Bread and Circuses
by OperaRose94
Summary: When Luffy destroys the Merry's Log Pose, the crew find themselves stranded on the New World's ocean. When the Going Merry lands on the Avalon Circus, a seemingly utopian island, the crew are whisked away into the circus's magic. But the place, and its people, soon reveal dark secrets and the crew soon discover the way out is much harder to find than the way in. CHARACTER DEATHS.
1. Chapter 1

It takes place in the New World, but is slightly AU because the Going Merry is still around, and because some elements of some back stories have been changed.

Chapter 1

_Blood in the water, Luffy._

_All it takes is one drop of blood in the water_

_and all the sharks come out._

My name is Robin. Just like before, I'm the only one left. He knew, going in, that the Grand Line has swallowed many crews up, I just don't think Luffy ever thought it was possible that it would tear us to pieces. But this is the New World, and the New World's a harsh place, full of things unknown, fears undiscovered. And no captain makes it through untried. Even Luffy, who we all thought was invincible. I guess in some ways he is—was. If nothing else, the fool was brave. Stupid, rash, irresponsible. But brave and loyal as any dog—any pirate—ever could be.

Luffy…I miss his smile.

There is an island where every direction is south, and where people's smiles are wide as the moon, wide as pain. Where trees float upside down by their struggling roots and where life is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful…until it is no more…!

And it looks like anywhere. That's what makes a place truly evil, when the scary things, the things no one wants to see, hide in everywhere. Under the surface of the water, weaving through the fine hair on a man's arm, crouching like rats in the bones of sunken ships. Permeating and undying. A plague. And that's why the trees there don't _look_ like they're hanging upside down, and you wouldn't dream of accusing the kind and smiling men of murder, and the little children wouldn't appear to have cockroaches rotting in their chests instead of hearts…

It starts at the beginning, like all good stories do. And at the beginning no one has any idea that there won't be a happy ending. You're dead wrong if you believe this will end well. Or maybe you're dead right?

But either way, you're still dead.

_Never getting out, are you?_

_They say elephants run from typhoons._

_So how did someone as large as you fall into my fly-trap?_

"Good morning!" Luffy shouted, his voice and the laugh that accompanied it ringing around the cabins and deck. The Merry popped into view as I bolted awake, my eyes wide.

Nami, as expected, was already sitting up, shouting curses. She was pulling on a pair of short red shorts left on the floor by her bed, shouting loud enough that Luffy—still on deck and performing a stunningly accurate impression of a sea cow's mating call—could hear her. "Luffy, what is the matter with you? You know there's a _fine_ for waking me up before the goddamn sun has risen, don't you?" She jumped onto the cabin floor and almost immediately fell into the wall as the ship rocked fiercely. Sighing, clearly still half asleep, she rolled back onto her feet and stuck the Clima-Tact's three pieces into her back pocket while pulling a questionably clean T-shirt over her head. She brushed her long, fire-orange hair into a messy braid behind her shoulders, effortless as always. A peal of thunder sounded in the distance, and Nami froze, eyes shooting skyward. The way she watched and heard storms, the passion and half-fear in those glances, never ceased to amaze. Like watching a ballet without the music. She turned to me, no doubt to crack a joke.

Our eyes met and her smile disappeared. "You alright, Robin?" She asked.

The walls in my head shot up immediately, and I looked at her in shock. Nami's friendship and the rest of the crew's were still strange and foreign. My time in Baroque Works and Ohara's destruction before that had left me cold, unused to people I could trust or befriend, people I didn't have to deceive. Crocodile's face shuddered across my brain, and I almost screamed. "Yes." I replied, shaking my head to clear it of sleep, "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well."

Nami's eyes flashed at me. Large and dark, they held strength that one could only find there. She leaned against the ladder to the deck, her brow slightly furrowed. "Were you dreaming again?" She asked. "You were talking in your sleep."

I glanced away for a moment. Standing from my hammock, I swayed as the ship rocked against a huge wave. Skirting around Nami's clothes and the maps and drawing supplies she had scattered on the floor, I reached into the chest—a glorified barrel, really—where I kept my belongings and pulled out a tight black dress. "No," I replied, my voice edged with defensive coldness. I looked down so she would not read me like she could read those storms as I tried to block out the images from the nightmare that had haunted my sleep.

Nami saw right through it. Her mouth opened as though she would speak. I shook my head, smiling a little. She shrugged, obviously a little frustrated, but with a twist of the Clima-Tact into her back pocket, she vaulted up onto the deck in less than a second. " Luffy? I don't see the sun! You know the rules and I don't want—what the hell is _that_?" She said loudly, her comment followed by a deafening crash, Luffy's high-pitched laugh, a scream from Chopper, and some curse in French from Sanji.

I pulled the dress down over my hips and dashed up the ladder to the deck, opening the Merry's hatch on a cloudy sky with wind dashing through the riggings, the waves in tight, intense lines plowing along like teeth. Nami had been wrong, the sun was up, but obscured so thickly by the almost unearthly-looking clouds that it was like a struggling robin's egg, pale and fragile. The wind beat at my face like teeth, sending sea-spray over the boat's edges. _Did Nami know this storm was coming?_ I wondered. She was dressed for a sunny day, her feet bare, just like the rest of us. My intuition told me no, but logic said there was no sort of storm Nami couldn't feel.

I looked left as Brook emerged from the boys' room, holding onto his hat. Zoro's head emerged next, and he shouted into the wind. "The fuck, man? Can't you see—" but Zoro never finished his sentence. Chopper, still frightened, ran full tilt across the deck and grabbed hold of Zoro's face, sending them both flailing, Zoro with a curse and Chopper with a high shriek, down the ladder into the boys' room. I laughed, turning to see if the rest of the crew had seen Zoro—our fiercest member and debatably best fighter—taken down by a tiny reindeer.

But my smile vanished as I turned to where they were all standing, halfway across the deck, where Nami and Franky had mounted the permanent Log Pose. Immediately, I vaulted myself onto the deck and ran to where Brook, Ussop, Luffy, Nami, and Sanji were standing. Looking over Sanji's shoulder, my breath caught in my throat. The Log Pose was shattered, the needle bent backwards and the glass cracked, pieces missing or scattered on the deck. A cold fear descended into my stomach as I was once again forced to block out nightmarish images that had plagued me in my sleep.

I looked up at Nami, whose distraught face revealed to all of us the seriousness of the Log Pose's breaking. Even Luffy was oddly silent, but when I looked to my right I bristled, seeing that he was no longer standing next to me, but stretching his limbs throughout the rigging, shouting and laughing. "Nami, I didn't know you could make storms like this! There weren't even clouds yesterday, none of us could tell it was even coming!" He yelled, vaulting between the Merry's two masts.

Nami's face contorted, and my heart sank. She hadn't seen the storm coming either, and as long as I had known her that had never happened. She clenched her fists, her strong, dark eyes fighting to control tears. Furious, she whipped the Clima-Tact from her pocket, locked two of the pieces together, and before Ussop could stop her, launched a cyclone tempo straight into the Merry's rigging at our captain. The force of the blow sent each of us careening back. Sanji grabbed hold of my arm to keep me from flying off the ship into the turbulent ocean, and both of us fell through the hatch to the boys' room, landing right on top of Zoro, who had somehow managed to fall back asleep on the floor, with Chopper still attached to his head.

He woke with a grunt as Sanji and I tumbled onto him, sitting up and instinctively pulling a sword from its sheath, ready to defend himself. Seeing it was just Sanji and I, he set his sword on the deck beside him and pulled Chopper from his face, spitting out reindeer hair. "It's alright Chopper," he said with an uncharacteristic smile.

"Do you promise?" Chopper said, still huddled close to the bigger man, his hooves pressed over his eyes.

"It's just Robin and Sanji. See?" Zoro said, prying Chopper's hooves away from his eyes.

He saw Sanji and I sitting awkwardly on the floor and smiled. "Right!" He sat down beside us, running his hoof over my hair like a child would. He looked up at me, looking concerned and a little sad. "Robin, is the Log Pose still broken?"

"The what is what?" Zoro choked, bolting to his feet and sheathing his sword in one movement. Ignoring the ladder, he jumped straight up onto the deck. I glanced back at Chopper and Sanji. Our cook had burned his palm on his cigarette during the fall and though he was doing his best to convince Chopper he was alright, the doctor was—as usual—overly concerned and eager to make his friend feel better.

I followed Zoro onto the deck to where Nami was standing over Luffy, the Clima-Tact still in her hands, the whole staff pointed directly at Luffy's face.

"Luffy, you are going to have to let the Marines catch you to pay off the fine you're going to owe me after this!" Nami said, rage bubbling under her calmness.

"Nami, did you know glass doesn't bounce?" He replied, glancing at the broken Log Pose.

I watched Nami lose control then, for the first—and what I hoped was the last—time. "Yes, Luffy, I did! And do you know _why_?" She grated out the last word, and our captain actually looked scared for a moment. "Because everybody knows that!" She shouted, driving the Clima-Tact straight into Luffy's solar plexus.

His rubber body absorbed most of the shock, but it still winded him, and Nami's strength kept him pinned to the deck. "Nami, it's not a big deal. We're not lost, we can just turn around and go to Punk Hazard, right?" he said ignorantly. I think that was when he finally began to understand what he'd done, seeing the hurt in one of his nakama's faces, and Nami's no doubt.

Nami lifted the Clima-Tact again and jammed it into Luffy's stomach. He looked a little guilty that it didn't hurt more. "No, we can't Luffy! I don't know where that is from here! This is the New World, how am I supposed to understand the magnetic fields here when even the storms fool me!"

Ussop shook his head in disbelief, "Wait, you mean to say you didn't see this coming?" He gestured around the deck at the wind, which was picking up speed now, almost as though Nami's cyclone tempo had inspired the sky to start a cyclone of its own.

Nami pulled the Clim-Tact from Luffy's skin and whipped it around to trip Ussop, sending him sprawling to the deck beside his captain before he could even think about dodging. "No, I didn't!" She shouted, tears in her eyes. None of us dared to move, beside me Zoro seemed too tense even to breathe. "This place is insane! I heard thunder, but it sounded so far away. I thought the next island was close to Punk Hazard, but we've been on the seas for a week, and there's no sign of it. I don't even know which way is north, because the sky is so black here you can't see the stars at night!" She was crying now, looking at the broken Log Pose and her captain laying on the floor.

Luffy's despair was evident. "I'm sorry Nami…I didn't mean to! We can fix it, can't we? Ussop and Franky, they're good at fixing things, and Robin knows everything. It will be okay, Nami." he tried to get up but Nami slammed the Clima-Tact back into his stomach, leaning against it and crying.

Luffy wrapped his hand around the Clima-Tact and began to push it off, his desire to be near Nami, to make things better, winning over her strength.

"Zoro, help me." Nami said, still holding the Clima-Tact steady, though she must have known she was losing.

The large, calm man strode up to her and looked at her for a second, his arms crossed. He considered Luffy and Ussop on the floor, and the whole deck felt like we were waiting for a new storm. Zoro reached out an arm as though he would help Nami, and then scooped her off her feet, throwing her, as well as the Clima-Tact that had been restraining Luffy, onto the deck beside him. "Fighting won't solve anything," he said. Nami, indignant and still angry, scrambled to her feet to slap Zoro. He caught her hand before she even had a chance, and pushed her away towards the edge of the deck. "Really?" He asked sardonically, turning to look at Franky and I standing together on the deck. "Can it be fixed?" he asked.

Franky opened his mouth to respond, but I beat him to it, sure he would somehow sugarcoat the answer. "No, it can't." I said, meeting Zoro's eyes evenly.

Behind us, Nami started crying even harder. Luffy, finally daring to move, jumped up and wrapped his arms around her. I glanced over at him, sure of the anguish he was feeling. He hated failing any one of us, and in front of him he'd seen Nami's dreams shattered as surely as the Log Pose.

Zoro began walking across the deck, motioning for me to follow him. Ussop, Brook, and Franky followed, and we all took the ladder down into the boys' room, where Chopper had Sanji laid on his bed with a cold compress on his forehead, insisting the cook had a fever. Sanji, meanwhile, was doing his best to light another cigarette.

Zoro, Ussop, Brook, and Franky all sat on barrels or crates near Sanji. I leaned against the wall, steadying myself near the ladder as the ship rocked dramatically.

After a long silence, in which we all watched Chopper carefully pack up the incredibly extensive first aid kit, Zoro spoke. "So what do we do?" He asked, looking around at us.

All eyes landed on me, as though I knew all the answers. I considered each of them calmly, concealing my pounding heart and struggling brain under my typically calm face. "We find land and stay there. The Log Pose was leading us towards an island before, if we stay on course then we'll find it."

Franky spoke up, "but what about what Nami said about the magnetic fields? Won't those distort our heading? If we don't know which way is north, how can we keep ourselves relative to it?"

Sanji laughed ironically. "I guess that's the beauty of not having a compass, no need to steer. Maybe we should just let Zoro drive for awhile, we'd be back in Alabasta before we knew it."

Zoro slammed his fist down on the crate next to him. "That's not funny, Robin. And now's not the time for jokes."

Sanji stood, putting his cigarette out with his foot, "It's not my fault you can't drive," he said. "I'm going to make breakfast." He straightened his jacket and walked coolly up the ladder, Zoro's eyes burning holes in his back as he left.

"Robin's probably right, we could find help on the nearest island. There's bound to be people somewhere in the New World." Brook said, his empty and cavernous eyes boring strangely through me. His face always frightened me, though I'd never tell him that. It reminded me of mortality, I think that's what it did for all of us.

"Right." Franky concluded. "Plus, onshore we'd have supplies, maybe find another Log Pose."

"And we'd get out of this storm," Brook continued. "I don't like it, it makes my bones ache. And Nami didn't see it coming. What kind of storm could do that?"

I moved to sit between Franky and Zoro as the ship's pitching increased. "That's what's been bothering me the most," I said, looking into their serious faces. "This isn't a regular storm."

None of them contradicted me. They always thought I was right, and aside from that, it was unnatural to all of us that Nami had been unable to sense the storm's coming. Everyone was tense, Nami's harshness towards Luffy and Ussop on deck had been a testament to that. Beside me, Zoro unsheathed Sandai kitetsu and tested the edge on his finger, running his hand so gently along the blade that no blood was drawn. It was a game he liked to play with the cursed sword, almost daring it to bite him, like a dragon or a cobra.

There was quiet in the cabin, all of us for once unable to say anything. Even on the deck, Nami had either pushed Luffy from the ship or he, too, realized the gravity of the situation. I put my head in my hands, tired from my restless night, trying to think of a way out. I felt small, unprotected, out in an ocean full of Sea Kings and Shichibukai and uncharted islands. My dream began to form in my mind, and I tried to piece it together, to make meaning from it.

_It began with Luffy and I standing on deck. What was he pointing at, with that stupid grin on his face? And why was his head tilted so far to the side? And then there was that space in the middle, where I could hear Zoro sharpening his swords, or was he grating his teeth? Was I floating? Luffy still stood on the deck, there, his arm like a board, rigid, but stretching longer and longer, almost like it was being pulled by something. _

_ The Merry ran aground, didn't it? And that's where Luffy's hand was, nailed into the sand. And was that Nami vanishing into the trees? No, hanging, from a tree, her hair wrapped around her hands, to tie them to her while her neck, just like Luffy's arm, stretched and stretched as she writhed, hanging in agony. Wouldn't Zoro cut her down?_

_ If that weren't him sitting on the sand, laughing through his teeth, eyes wide enough to see all the whites all round the dark irises, a stupid, blood-red grin stretched from ear to ear, like it was carved there. Cutting his hand on the blade of Sandai kitetsu until it dripped blood. And the blood congealed to become little dancing women, all around him chanting, again and again. 'Smiling swordsman. Smiling swordsman. Smiling swordsman.' _

_ In the dream I'd felt myself pulled inland, even as in the waking world I could remember saying something. And inland was the most terrible, the giant mountains with an awful chasm in the middle. A calliope? Or was that a requiem? "Brook!" I'd shouted, sure he was playing, sure he was alright. An awful scream followed. _

_ And then I'd been in the air, helpless, rising above the horrible place, rising up into one of Brook's eyes where there was a hand, a bloody hand that held something small._

_ It was my head, with its tongue sticking out, smiling. "Good morning," it had said, in my voice, before the hand crushed it._

I jolted, nearly falling off the crate. Zoro, beside me, grabbed my arm to steady me. "Robin!" He said, more urgently than usual. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head, looking around at Zoro. All I could see was that wicked grin pasted around his face, the awfully seductive drops of his blood dancing around him. "Yes," I said. "Just tired. I need air." I stood and walked quickly up to the deck, heaving in breaths of the unnatural air. It had begun to taste like metal. Luffy had vanished, no doubt with Sanji into the kitchen, and Nami was at the keel, looking up. I ran to the edge of the ship, afraid I might be seasick since everything was spinning, and looked out at the horizon. The waves rumbled on past the ship, the wind was heavy from starboard, blowing my hair into my face. Following Nami's gaze, I looked up at the sails, expecting them to be listing to port, taking the ship along the track of the wind. But they weren't. The sails were pointed into the wind, and the ship was not following the tide and current, but chugging along like a train, straight towards a hazy place on the horizon.

I walked across the deck towards Nami, who was regarding the sails with the same suspicion that I had. "What does it mean?" I asked her. "I mean, how is it possible that the sails are going one direction, but we're going another?"

She looked down at me, her dark eyes wide. "It's probably a current, a strong one. I've never seen it happen before, but everything's strange in the New World. For all I know, a Sea King could be pulling us along. But it doesn't matter, anyway."

"Why?" I asked, dreading the answer.

Nami pushed her hair out of her face, a triumphant smile on her face. "Cause whatever it is, it's pulling us towards land. See? That's an island over there, that hazy spot!" She said excitedly, stretching out her arm to point.

I shuddered, looking at that long arm extended outward, towards land. _Good morning_, I thought. Thinking of my head, crushed and smiling by a gigantic hand in a skeleton's eye. And that, I knew, was where we were headed.

_ A puppeteer has many eyes, many fingers._

_ And all of them have faces._

_ Good morning, Luffy. _


	2. Chapter 2

*Oi! Disclaimer! I don't own One Piece, any of the badass characters, epic settings, or any of the freaking amazing universe in general. To sum things up, I'm not Oda because I don't have an island of money or epic art talent. ∨ (^.^) ∨

*Also, please review! I'm curious to see what you all think, since this is the first fanfic I've ever written!

Chapter Two

You'd expect a nightmare. You'd expect blood all over, or awful silence, or the dreadful space between breaths when you know it's ending. But the Circus Avalon was nothing like that. I wanted fog or rain, a lightning storm to froth the seas so high we couldn't beach the Merry, but it didn't happen. We trudged on towards the island and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rising, tingling, like there was a strangling noose about my neck. Standing beside Nami on the deck, I almost coughed aloud.

The navigator turned her gaze from the island to the empty deck. I could almost see the gears in her brain turning, thinking how we could land the Merry, how we could find a new Log Pose and return to our heading. Nami leaned back, cupping her hands around her mouth as the hazy place grew larger and larger on the horizon. "Land ho!" She shouted, loud enough to force me to press my hands to my ears, loud enough even to shake a few of the Merry's timbers. She rocked back, hands on her hips, expecting an instant flood of the crew, everyone rushing up to the deck to see what we had found. No such luck.

Sanji emerged from the kitchen, cigarette clenched between his teeth, frying pan full of eggs in one hand. "Nami-swan, will you ever learn?" He asked, casually leaning out onto the deck. "Just watch." Speaking no louder than usual, he said "breakfast!"

Instantly, everyone emerged from below decks in a boisterous cloud. Sanji gave Nami a killer smile, obviously attempting suavity. The look changed to shock, however, when Sanji turned around to discover that Luffy had his entire arm, still-cooking frying pan included, in his mouth. "Luffy! What the-" He kicked our captain in the stomach, sending him flying across the deck straight into the mast, which he bounced off of and hit Ussop and Franky full force, sending all three of them sprawling. Zoro casually side-stepped and all three of them fell headfirst through an open porthole.

Nami laughed, and I couldn't help joining her. She leaned over, hands on her knees, as though she couldn't stop. For a second I thought I was dreaming again, that there was something unnatural about Nami's laugh, the way she had her eyes squeezed shut almost like she was in pain, the way her body rocked with the force of her laughing, the sound like it wasn't even hers, like it belonged to a far away place, a far away person...

I shook my head to clear it, looking ahead to the now visible island. Nami straightened, and the otherworldly terror I had felt melted away. "Come on, we'd better get some breakfast before these morons knock it into the ocean," she said, not bothering with the stairs but leaping down from the stern onto mid-ships, running full-tilt into the now writhing mass of our crew all trying to fit through the doorway to the kitchen at once. With a running start, she jumped as high as she could, and landed squarely on Brook's back, forcing all of them in a tumbling heap into the kitchen. The noises of Luffy eating—demolishing—everything in immediate sight began even before they'd all gotten up.

I smirked, laughing a little and taking the more civil route down the stairs and towards the kitchen, where the crew were already halfway through breakfast. I slid into a seat on the end beside Chopper, who was standing on tiptoe trying to reach a bowl of fruits halfway across the table. I leaned over to hand him the bowl, but Zoro was faster, placing the bowl on the top of Chopper's hat, causing our little doctor to spin about on his chair, trying to reach the bowl. Zoro and I both laughed.

"Swordsman-san, you have a strange sense of humor," I said, reaching up to take the bowl from Chopper's head. Zoro was faster once again, placing it in front of Chopper and putting his arm around the deer's shoulders.

"There you are, Ototo-chan," he said, clapping the doctor on the back.

Chopper's eyes widened as he smiled, piling the fruit onto his plate.

I looked at Zoro as he turned away from Chopper and towards Sanji, joining a conversation about battle scars and the best ways to insult an enemy's manhood. He was a hard man to read, there were secrets none of us knew, a city pulsing inside his head that no one on the crew could gain access to. For that reason, he was a danger to me. I hate things I cannot understand or guess at, and Zoro's actions and decisions almost all fell into that category. I shut my eyes and looked away as a vision flew through my mind of Zoro with a hideous smile on his face, blood coating all three of his swords as he waltz-stepped on broken ankles across the top of the ocean. I nearly gasped. The strange image had come from nowhere, or maybe from my nightmare. I looked up straight into Brook's face—or lack thereof—and he seemed to me a grim reaper with huge eyes waiting to take me…

"Everybody, listen up!" Nami said, standing up and slamming her mug on the table to get our attention. Everybody stopped speaking immediately, turning towards her. My frenzied breathing was calmed instantly by the familiarity of Nami's domineering, confident speech. "So we're heading towards an island. We don't really know anything about it, except that for some reason the current around here is so strong it's actually pulling the sails against the wind. So be careful on deck, we don't exactly know what could be—"

Nami stopped speaking, turning around towards the table and whacking Luffy's hand, which was reaching into her bowl of tangerines, with a piece of the Clima-Tact. He swore fervently, his hand flying back involuntarily and smacking him in the face, sending him toppling to the floor. Everybody laughed under our breath, but when Nami turned around again, all went quiet.

"—out there. We should be ashore within a couple hours, and then we'll decide if we want to stay."

Luffy, having returned to his seat, interrupted Nami again. "Robin, is the island dangerous?" He asked me, leaning forward, the light of adventure in his eyes.

I was caught under the gazes of all my crewmates, trying to think how I could answer. _Yes. Yes this island is dangerous and we should get away while we can_ was my thought. I opened my mouth to speak, but before the syllables could leave my tongue, the boat pitched in the stormy sea so violently that it upset the table and nearly all the chairs. Only Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji maintained their balance amid the clatter of plates, food, crewmembers, and furniture.

I fell beneath my chair, one of the legs hitting me on the head. Pain blossomed like a sick flower across my forehead, and little bubbles popped momentarily into my vision. The ship rocked fiercely in the other direction, and I rolled across the deck, slamming into the table, which fell on me with a dull thud, splattering food across my body. I nearly blacked out for a second, but forced myself to stay conscious, looking around for help. All the members of the crew who had managed to stand up were holding onto whatever non-movable objects they could reach so they would not tumble as I had. My eyes met Luffy's and from across the kitchen he stretched out one arm and flipped the table off of me in a single swipe.

"Robin, are you alright?" He asked urgently as the ship rocked again. This time I was fast enough to avoid being crushed under the table, standing and stumble-walking a few steps towards the cabin's wall. "Nami, what's happening?" Luffy shouted as I fell against the refrigerator.

Nami was looking all around, once again baffled by the weather, once again helpless to do the one thing she had always been confident in her ability to do. "I…" she said, looking around as the boat pitched dramatically again.

Zoro pulled out a katana and sliced the table in half as it sailed across the deck towards he and Chopper. Nami shut her eyes, trying to make sense of something she could not explain, "I…" she said, her voice trembling.

The Merry pitched so far that everybody against the upward side was thrown into the wall, myself included. Franky caught me, taking the wall's impact for both of us, and shielding my face from a ceramic plate that broke against his metal arm.

"Nami?" Ussop shouted, his voice high in the pitches of fear. My vision was beginning to go dark, whether from fear of from the fact that Franky was squeezing me so tightly I don't know. I heard Luffy scream as the boat pitched again, now beginning to spin. And then it was like everything froze and I was seeing through someone else's eyes, realizing that I had never seen my crewmates so scared before. We had faced the Marines, disabled and disbanded CP9 and Baroque Works, stood up to the World Government, defeated Shichibukai and sea kings, and traveled over halfway through the Grand Line, and we had never once been this scared. What was it about this place, then, that was different? What made us tense and tremble? Something in the water, the air? The smell of decay clinging to each of us, the reality that we could die here on the Merry, the one place we had always felt safe? There was something here, something otherworldly. And now they could all feel it just as I had all day.

"I don't know!" Nami was shouting, her voice and the desperation in her dark, brave eyes throwing me more than anything. "I don't know what kind of storm this is!" She cried out as a bowl hit her in the head.

Ussop was holding tightly to the wall beside Luffy, who had his arms stretched out along the length of the cabin, keeping every one of us from falling. Brook and Franky were doing their best to stay upright and keep Nami and I safe, and Zoro had Chopper held tightly against his body, two of his katana dug into the wall beside him, so he and Sanji could hold onto them. All of us were braced to be swept up as even the Merry shuddered a little, as if in fear. We were ready to die.

And then it stopped. Just as suddenly as it had come, the storm died down. We were all left tense, scared, and braced against the wall as the Merry's deck leveled, almost like she was sighing in relief. The kitchen and lounge were a mess, and I had no doubt that the rest of the ship was in a similar condition. None of us dared to speak, all still braced, ready to fight. And then it began. A calliope.

Drifting across whatever miserable strip of water remained between us and the island we were heading dead towards, the melody was almost seductive, hinting at things one wasn't supposed to discuss in the light of day. We looked around, everyone entranced, mystified, some still scared. And still the calliope played. As it had no doubt played for eons, for the hundreds of other pirates who had been caught in its path. It beckoned us along, wrapping cool, warped fingers around the Merry's mast and dragging the Straw Hats, one of the most feared and respected pirate crews on the oceans, towards a place that just might be more than a match for us. We all looked at Luffy, our captain, who had taken us through so much. And for once he was not smiling, not doing anything stupid or laughing at one of us. He pulled back his arms and straightened his hat, pushing it back on his head. "Well, I guess we're going exploring then," he said quietly.

* * *

_Luffy-san, you have a little robin with you!_

_And so many other exquisite birds, so many sharp, formidable claws!_

_I wonder what makes them go, what kind of clockwork? _

_And if I took them apart, would they bleed? _

_It's been so long since I've seen anything bleed…_

_Come into the circus, Luffy._

_Come and meet me…_

_I'm waiting for you._

_And I am very hungry._

The first sign of life on the island was the fact that its pier wasn't in total disarray. There were mussels and barnacles clinging to the pier's legs, its boards had rotted and become swollen with seawater, and mildew was beginning to creep around the edges of buildings and benches, but all of it looked staged. Too perfectly, artistically, disarranged. It was as if performers of some kind had set up a play for us, a very certain image that we had to see, lest the magic of the island's ground-fog lifting to reveal its secrets be ruined.

The calliope played on as the Merry docked at the empty pier, its melody more sweeping now, more powerful. Looking out towards the ocean, it was easy to see the storms we had been caught in. They moved in eerie dances about the surface of the water, as if there were many winds, independent of one another, all stirring up their own tempests. The currents towards the island were so strong it was easy to see them manipulating the waves miles out at sea. Almost like the island wanted people to come, like it was forcing us to be here.

We stepped off the boat, all of us still quiet. Luffy was the first to disembark, calmer now that the oceans had stilled, but he was walking fast, betraying his excitement. The Merry groaned a little as we all disembarked, like she did not want to be left alone. I was the last to leave the ship, and I touched the Merry's timbers hoping she would still be there to touch when we returned.

I followed my nakama down the gangway and onto the pier, where they were all standing behind Luffy. We must have presented quite a picture to the people I now know were watching us from the fog, the dust, and the trees. The nine of us, all so different, so fierce, and so afraid in our own ways, the next crew come to meet the challenges of the island, whatever they were.

Luffy set his shoulders and began to walk forward, the rest of us following him into the fog.

"Look," Chopper said, breaking the silence and running away from us into the fog.

"Chopper!" Zoro called, running after the doctor, already drawing a katana to defend them if he needed to.

"Wait!" Nami called, reaching out to grab Zoro's arm. She was too late, he had followed Chopper into the fog.

All of us stood tensely, instinctively moving into fighting formations. I bent my knees and tensed my shoulders, ready to use my Devil Fruit's ability if necessary. But then Zoro's voice echoed eerily through the fog, sounding excited and very much unhurt.

"Guys, come here!" He called.

We relaxed, running into the mist after Zoro and Chopper. Though they were thickly obscured by the grey fog that clung stubbornly to the ground, we could still make out a strange box that they were standing next to. I recognized it immediately.

"That's an electrical box," I said. "It turns something on if you flip the switch."

"It does!" Luffy said, his jaw dropping. "How does it know how to do that?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but it was too late.

"It's magic!" Luffy said, running up to the switch, wrapping both of his arms around it, and yanking it down, triggering the mechanism.

"Luffy!" I said, "we don't know what that switch turns on! It could have killed you!"

"Rubber doesn't conduct electricity," he said, beaming at me from ear to ear. It was the one piece of scientific knowledge he had retained from all the questions he had asked me, and he never failed to bring it up whenever he could.

"You know, for once that was actually relevant." Sanji mused, stamping out his cigarette on the pier. "In any case, it looks like whatever it used to turn on is either broken or gone. Maybe there aren't people here after all."

It was at that moment that the calliope stopped. I had forgotten its presence, the melody, so easily it fit into my head, into the inner workings of my brain. And when it was gone it was like someone had taken a part of me. I felt cheated, abandoned.

But then the lights came on. It started at the end of the pier, old-timey streetlights with big ball lights at their tops flickered into existence, the fog cupping around their light, creating great eye-like shapes. Then the lights in the abandoned shops on either side of the pier further along illuminated, their cheap, old neon faded or broken in places. They were carnival games. A shooting gallery, an apple-bobbing booth, a fortune teller, an apothecary, food stands and ring tosses and a photography stand.

It seemed that the lights would stop there, but the circus's tawdry magic was only just beginning to unfold. Much farther inland, electric motors began to whir, and a roller coaster with lights all along its track began moving. More streetlights and hanging bulbs began to illuminate a great midway, a gigantic tent with the words _Mirror Maze_ printed on it became illuminated from within, and animatronic voices began calling out the names of attractions. A Ferris wheel clattered to life, its thin spokes against he dim, foggy sky like bones. The whole island, as far as we could see, was covered by tents and rides and attractions.

The image was entirely eerie. I felt my spine shiver a little, and Nami grabbed hold of my arm, like she too could not believe what we were seeing. Through the fog, it was impossible to determine details of the circus. All we could see were broad shapes, sweeping arcs and darting pyramids, a haunting conglomeration of sound and space and fabric.

No one said anything, what was there to say? The circus was more entrancing, more beautiful, than any place I had ever been. I found myself longing to be lost there, pondering the romance and shady glory of the tumblers, magicians, clowns, and animals. I took a step forward, then another. It was calling me forward.

And the others felt it too, the sense of wholeness that came with the place, the _need_ to be inside it. We moved forward together towards the end of the pier, where the gate to the island stood open, welcoming.

As we neared it, I looked up at the gate. One last sign flickered into being as we passed through the gates. The large, swooping letters, perfectly blue and red and white neon, spelled out the name of the island boldly, subtly. Almost cruel, almost casual. The last letter came alive and the sign was complete.

It read: _The Avalon Circus_.

* * *

_Ahhhh, at last._

_I can see again, through the eyes of the circus._

_You don't know how many eyes I have,_

_how many hands. _

_There's so much possibility for you,_

_so many ways to make you forget what you're not seeing,_

_what you're not remembering. _

_You woke me up, Luffy,_

_and now I won't go back to sleep for a very,_

_very_

_long time. _


	3. Chapter 3

*Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updating! I'm in Ohio for a creative writing program right now, so I'm pretty busy during the day!

*Thanks to everybody for reading and reviewing! I've gotten some great comments and I hope you all keep enjoying the story. Please review more! I want to keep you guys happy!

Chapter 3

It is a disconcerting feeling, the knowledge that a decision made cannot be reversed, no matter what. We passed through the gates of the Circus Avalon and no one heard them swing shut behind us, the deafening, almost opalescent sound, sealing us in.

Nami had released my arm and was looking about, entranced. Her fascination with the place seemed to come from somewhere deep-rooted in herself, a secret almost quivered on her lips as we entered the midway.

We walked a ways, debated making several turns into tented alleyways. But fear of the mist, or of the dark, or of the circus's citizens, any of whom we had yet to see, kept us on the well-lit midway. It was an unofficial decision to head towards the Ferris wheel, the largest and most well-lit place on the island.

Several times we heard skittering in the shadows, like mice. I knew there must be thousands of the creatures on an island this size, but the noise still scared me. Still sounded too much like footsteps.

After a long silence, in which even Luffy seemed to sense solemnity, we paused in a well lit clearing amid the tents, trying to get our bearings. Though we'd been moving in a straight line, it seemed, it was impossible to remember just where we had come from. We needed a guide.

"I wonder if anyone is—" Sanji began.

At the same time, Luffy cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the fog. "HELLO?"

We all reeled in the silence that followed, waiting for something to happen. Our captain stood anxiously, trademark brazen smile on his face, clearly wanting to rush ahead, to explore all the dark crevices and innumerable glittering corners of the circus island.

The shout echoed, continued to do so, the sound traveling down every alleyway and secret place until it reached the center of the island, skipped up the other side, and cast its lonely way out to sea to be eaten up by the wind and the pockets of storm. No one had heard.

Maybe.

There were steps behind us and in unison Ussop, Brook, and I whipped around, each ready to fight. I had already conjured extra hands and faces in the air beside me to confuse whatever enemy waited. I suppose the doll-like creature behind us was lucky that it hadn't come pacing up near Zoro or Sanji, both of whom were visibly tense, like panthers, and would have struck out, no questions asked.

It tottered towards us with an odd jingling noise every time it took a step. Clearly it wasn't a puppet, but it moved in such a way, each limb jerky. It was just a little taller than Chopper, the body all chunky limbs and clumsy torso. Its head unnaturally large, in a disgusting way like a child's head. It moved out of the mist and we could see it was wearing a pauper's suit and top-hat, nearly as large as its head itself. Its mouth was open in a large-lipped child smile. That distortion of facial features should have terrified me, but it didn't occur to me to be afraid. Something in the figure was comforting, like a little brother or a childhood friend. But there was something eerie about it. The silent way it moved, ponderous and slow, like a shark with too many teeth, was both unfamiliar and disconcerting. I was not afraid of the thing, but it chilled me nonetheless.

It moved into the light of the midway almost cautiously. Luffy had begun to step forward—surely to see the easiest way to break the thing—But both Zoro and Sanji had clapped a hand onto his shoulders, keeping him still at least temporarily.

When it was about five feet away, the smile opened as if in a gigantic yawn, the top of the head tipping further and further back until it looked as if it would fall off. Metal pipes, haphazard, almost gramophone-like things, protruded from its throat and music began to come from it. A song I'd never heard, but at which Nami and Ussop gasped in recognition. A nursery rhyme, undoubtedly.

_Jack and Jill went up the hill_

_ to fetch a pail of water…_

_ Jack fell down and broke his crown_

_ and Jill came tumbling after._

We were petrified. There was hidden, sinister meaning in the words as the figure repeated it over and over, fast and then slow. Franky whispered that perhaps we should move away, but even his voice seemed choked and unsure, and nobody made any move to get away from it. The ghoulish apparition tottered closer, seemingly determined towards Luffy, who, though his easily-readable face betrayed fear, did not back down from it.

Suddenly there were another set of footsteps from behind us, these distinctly larger, distinctly boot-like in the way they sounded. This time there was no hesitation on anyone's part. The entire crew whipped around, Ussop fired his slingshot straight at the figure none of us had yet had the time to absorb.

The man caught the projectile in his hand so deftly and effortlessly it was as though a child had shot a nut at him. The move was so fast that I could not help wondering if haki was behind it.

It would not have surprised me. The man behind us emanated power like Luffy emanated courage. He did not move from the mist, but seemed to pass right through it, almost oozing. His clothes were oddly tattered, almost ragged in places, like they had been burned. He wore deep purple pants, pinstriped with a lighter shade. They fit tightly under black, knee-high riding boots with gold buckles. A dovetail jacket of shabby crimson, whose tails were so sweeping and elegant that they narrowed to points just above the ground, was thrown almost casually over his shoulders, like it had been an afterthought. The shirt underneath was a stained-looking shade of white, no less elegant for its imperfection. The gilt buttons down the front sparkled like eyes, following a line of almost lacy fabric down the man's torso. The flared and elegant collar was accentuated by a deep purple necktie.

On his right hand he wore a fingerless glove, and there was a whip secured at his belt. A pocket watch looped its jangling copper chain from the back of his tailcoat into its front pocket. Around his neck was a delicate gold chain, so long it fell almost to the bottom of his ribcage, at the end of which hung a perfectly-crafted merry-go-round horse.

Like the doll-puppet, he wore a hat. His was a more understated tall-hat, deep purple like his bowtie, with a large crimson band of ribbon and a few russet-brown feathers stuck out of one side. It was slightly, but jauntily, askew on his head, and he held it up as though he were scared it would fall.

The man's face was the last thing we could see, as he swept us a bow and then removed his hat, holding it behind him. When he straightened, I could not help gasping. The face was beautiful. Skin almost translucent, without blemishes or marks of any kind. He had russet hair, unkempt in the way that cannot be anything but attractive. Dashes of it fell long and straight across his forehead. His cheek-bones were high and defined, but not overly so, giving his face a carved or metallic quality, like it was molded instead of born. His nose was long and equine, coming to a delicate point above thin lips, sharp-edged and dark red. Also stone. Also perfect. The deep eyes, green-brown and piercing, were strikingly framed by unnaturally long lashes, curling about and setting those flaking pits of emotion into shade. It was not until he stood straight, illuminated by the bulbous glow of one of the streetlights, that we could see the scales.

His whole body was peppered with them, delicately, unimaginably so. In some places they were invisible beneath his translucently white skin, in others they shone through, opalescent green and yellow. Around his mouth they narrowed into points, and at the corners of his eyes they were the deepest green of all. When he opened his mouth in a casual smile, a forked tongue flicked past sharp teeth. His fingers were unimaginably long and came to tapering points, with a deep yellow scale for each fingernail. The man was perfect. And he was a snake.

I don't know how long we stood there considering him. Gradually I became aware of the time passing, and the man standing there considering us as though he had always known we would come.

Behind us the little puppet went on tittering its melody, a melody lost to me. Finally, the man spoke.

"Did I startle you?" Watching that tongue flick over those lips, the hands move elegantly to replace the top hat, to straighten the lapels of the jacket, was more engaging than I could have ever imagined.

Sanji, a charmer in his own right and seemingly unaffected by the man's voice, replied. "Your puppet did," casually, lighting a cigarette. It was only because he was standing so close to me that I was able to see his hands shake.

"Oh," the man said casually, moving those elegant hands to his pockets, searching for something. He pulled a strawberry from his pocket. A perfect, ripe strawberry. Bending, he called "Lucid," and held the strawberry out.

The puppet ceased its singing, its head ratcheting back into place almost involuntarily. It made an excited little chirping noise and tottered at top clockwork speed towards the man, reaching out chubby, stub-fingered hands to grab the strawberry.

It devoured the thing in one bite and then stood contentedly at the man-snake's side. He touched the side of its face gently, a crooked smile creeping up his face. Then he turned to us, still kneeling.

"I see you met Lucid," he said. "His brother, Dreaming, is around here somewhere."

_Lucid Dreaming?_ The two words fit together in my head somehow, but I couldn't imagine how. Everything I had ever learned was swimming dully, unimportantly in my brain.

"I see we did," Brook said, stepping forward though the rest of us were incapable of speaking.

The man seemed a little confused at the skeleton's appearance. A little perturbed. Sleek and powerful, he stood, brushing nonexistent strawberry dust from his fingers.

"Who are you?" He asked more brusquely than before. The mist clung thickly around him, the streetlight's glow making his face ghostly.

And the enchantment was broken. He was just a man, a strange one, but mortal. I was able to speak, to think again. Lucid dreaming made sense, and so did the knowledge that men could not also be snakes. It had to be a mask of some kind.

"We're the Straw Hat pirates," Luffy said boldly, stepping in front of us all, puffing his chest out and crossing his arms. "And we're not scared of puppets."

The man laughed a little, seeing Luffy's denial, like I did, as an admonition more than a renouncing of fear. "And you shouldn't be," he said, resting his hand on the top of the puppet's head. "They're nothing to be afraid of. They're just clockwork." He looked up, and his spell-binding eyes met mine for longer than an instant. _You're beautiful_, his voice whispered in my ear. I heard it vaguely, like it was carried on the mist. Nami and I both gasped, looked at each other, and then back at the man. Her eyes had been so full of hope, so almost in love. I wondered if mine had looked the same.

"Who…" Nami's voice was quiet, almost trembling. She got hold of herself, shook her head, and said more forcefully, "Who the hell are you?"

He smiled again, cutting. "Oh, I'm so sorry not to have introduced myself!" He gave another sweeping bow, bouncing on the balls of his feet in the way I had seen actors do. "Ladies and gentlemen, pirates most fierce delivered to my humble abode from across the vast reaches of the sea, I am the Bell-Viper, humble servant and ringmaster of the circus." He allowed no time for interruption. Clearly a showman, his voice bounced and reverberated in the tents along the midway. "This," he gestured to the child-doll at his side, "is one of the Clockwork Children. We call them Clockies. They are my eyes and ears here, since I can't be everywhere." He said this last with a small, ironic tilt of the head. I doubted the statement's truth.

"You live here?" Luffy asked, wonderment quickly replacing caution in his voice. He looked as far as he could into the darkened alleyway, as if trying to determine where the Bell-Viper's home might have been.

The Bell-Viper laughed. "Yes, I do," he replied casually, straightening the lapels of his jacket, almost proud. He seemed more like an overgrown child than anything.

Zoro, brooding quietly to my left, suddenly barked, in a much harsher voice than usual, "Turn the damn mist off, then!" His hand was on the hilt of a katana and his brow shaded his eyes so that from my angle he looked almost like a demon.

The Bell-Viper took a step back, as if in surprise, gathering the Clockie to him like a father protecting his first-born son.

Then, gathering his power back about him, he looked Zoro straight in the eye. "But of course." Without turning away, he snapped his fingers at the little figure at his side and, laughing giddily, the Clockwork Child stumbled off into the mist.

He and Zoro held a gaze, a challenge taut between them for an instant, before the Bell-Viper clicked his heels together and straightened. "I take it your ship is safely at the dock? Our resident shipwright will be able to see to any repairs."

All of us spoke at once, some holding up hands in a gesture of halt, some taking a step towards the snake-man, all with collective cries of "No!" Luffy spoke first after that, addressing the man aggressively.

"Mr. Bell-Viper, our ship is part of our crew. You touch her, you or your little clockwork thingies, and we'll leave, right away."

The snake furrowed his brow, lifted the pocket watch from his breast, and opened is mouth a little, feigning shock. "Oh, you wouldn't want to do that. In case you hadn't noticed, we have our own little system of storms around the circus. Like a funhouse, really, when you think about it. Now that you're here, you won't be able to leave for at least ten days. The current won't be blowing out towards sea until then."

There was a quiet dread spreading over all of us. Maybe Luffy and Chopper were immune to it, but the rest of us all felt the sensations of longing for the ocean already settling. I wanted to leave now, at least to retreat to the pier, where the Bell-Viper's odd little Clockies and his cunning smile could not touch us.

The snake-man put his watch back into his pocket, his eyes flicking over all of us. "Listen, it's not so bad. This island is full of amusements, the fantastical and mysterious. There's endless places to explore. We haven't seen a pirate crew here in years, and we're all eager to entertain again. It's in our blood."

The merry-go-round horse around his neck began to neigh, and the Bell-Viper picked it up off his chest, holding it to his ear as it spoke. A smile spread across his face a few seconds later, and he dropped the horse. "Straw Hat pirates, I do believe you'll find the island much more to your liking in a few moments." The Bell-Viper snapped his fingers and made a waving motion with both of his hands, and the mist was banished instantly.

The island became clear in a second, all traces of the mist gone. The lights still blazed brightly, but their light was more accentuation to the illumination of the sun, which shone down clearly from a sky peppered with clouds like stray sheep. The sea was clearly audible, and we could hear birds stirring from nests throughout the odd hardwood trees that grew between and sometimes through the tents of the circus. It was a relief to see the sun again, and I felt instantly at ease, the old curiosity for a new place stirring in my heart. Circuses had fascinated me for a long time.

Everyone else felt it, too, the eagerness to look around. It was like the mist had been stifling us, and in its absence we were ourselves again. Already Luffy was smacking his hands against the sides of his legs, trying for once to restrain his natural urge either to explore as quickly as possible or break multiple things.

"I see this is much more what you had in mind," the Bell-Viper said, taking off his tailcoat, useless in the newfound heat. He shone in the sunlight, each scale reflecting a little light of its own, curiously like one of the snakes for which he was named. "Forgive me, the last crew we had were an odd sort, they liked the dark. When we saw you coming, we prepared the island as though for them."

"That's alright," Luffy said excitedly. "It's sunny now, and we want to look around!"

The Bell-Viper's face lit up. "Ah, adventurers, are you?" We couldn't help nodding, responding eagerly to his showman's tone. "Well, we've treasures enough for you then. Steam, Whistle," he called over his shoulder. Two Clockies emerged from a tent. "Take these travelers to the guest tents, please." He reached into his pocket, producing two more strawberries and handing them to the Clockies, who ate them whole, almost starvingly. He turned to address us once more. "Please follow the two Clockwork Children, they'll take you to a place you can stay. I must make things ready for your tour, and then I shall show you what our splendid circus has to offer!" The Bell-Viper gave us another little bow and then spun on his heel and walked at a brisk clip towards what was presumably the big-top, an enormous tent we hadn't been able to see in the mist.

The two Clockies stood looking at us, not nearly so eerie now that there was no mist or shadow. They were almost like real children, a darling little blonde boy and a girl, presumably his twin, with large baby-blue eyes. The boy beckoned for us to follow him. Turning and joining hands with his sister, they skipped ahead of us down an alleyway of tents, where wonderment strayed into shadow. I wondered exactly how large the island could be, and how there could be enough people, when the Bell-Viper was the only one we had seen, to populate the entire island.

I had forgotten, at that point, the nightmare that warned me what the island could be, or was, or is, or never shall be. The Bell-Viper's voice and the stirring excitement of my crewmates drove it from my mind. We'd forgotten the storm of that morning, the weather that had baffled even Nami, and the chaos of Luffy's breaking the Log Pose that lead us to the Circus Avalon. Because none of it mattered. The circus had already swallowed everything.

* * *

_Now I have you._

_Thought you were clever enough to avoid me, did you? _

_Thought you had brains or strength or will enough to keep from sinking?_

_Your enemies told me you were a formidable foe, Luffy,_

_Let's see if they were right. x_


	4. Chapter 4

*Thanks for all who have been reading and reviewing! I hope you are all enjoying!

_You know why I hate you, Luffy. _

_You know why, and you couldn't ever forget._

_I'll make you plead. Make you wish you'd never been alive, and then we'll see who's laughing last! _

_He who laughs last_

_ laughs longest._

* * *

The tents where we were taken to stay were far into the maze of alleyways and canvas that made up the Circus Avalon. The tent was about half as large as the Merry's hull and squat, low enough that it didn't stand out at all from the tapestry of brightly colored fabric around it. The Clockwork Children showed us to the doorway and then vanished as seamlessly as the Bell-Viper had.

The island had grown hot as the sun became fiercer, and all of us went into the shade of the pavilion with relief. Inside was a world of crimson and gold, emerald and cream. Whoever had designed the tent had paid attention to the way the light would look falling through the fabric, and had commanded the color of the tent so expertly that the words _Circus Avalon_ were spelled out in blue and yellow on the floor of the tent when we walked in. Though the floor was dirt, there were ornate rugs covering most of the space, and couches and chairs with decorated upholstery were scattered casually around the tent. Around its edges were nine curtained spaces, each with a bed, a small desk, and a hanging lamp inside, like bedrooms. Each was a different color, and with light falling through their tops looked like pieces of a kaleidoscope. Looking up, it was easy to see the tent's support structure, among which hung a trapeze and a high-wire, no doubt for performers to practice. A space in the tent's center had been cleared and there was a large table, around which were nine chairs and in the center of which was an immaculately colored map of the island, with a small red x marking where the tent was.

It was magical, like stepping into an entirely new world. I was becoming more and more fascinated with the island as hours ticked by, and I found myself succumbing now and again to just hearing the melody of the calliope and staying still.

I thought for the first time that day of the gate, and how it had swung open so prophetically to allow our entrance. That thought made me pause, think back to the Merry and how we had suffered the strange storms and currents. There was something else, too…a warning? Had someone told me to be careful? I shook my head to clear it. A loud buzzing had begun in my ears the second I had contemplated danger on the Circus Avalon. My mouth went dry, and immediately I turned my thoughts to other things, to how the music from the circus emanated soft and seductive from everywhere around us, how remarkable a feat that was, and the buzzing stopped.

The rest of the crew were already looking around the tent. Nami was drawn instantly to the table, where the map sat. Zoro dropped his swords outside the nearest bed-chamber, plopped down on soft purple cushions, and fell immediately asleep. Luffy made a running dash for the center pole and started to wrap his arms around it to climb it. He made it about halfway up before the whole pole began listing to one side, nearly taking the tent with it. Luffy laughed loudly, rocking the pole back and forth with his body weight.

"Get down from there, you dumbass!" Ussop said up to him, taking a rock from the dirt floor of the tent and throwing it with such accuracy that our captain was knocked from the pole into the dirt, flat on his ass.

"Ussop!" He said, straightening, his arms crossed. "You're no fun!" He turned to me. "Robin, can we go exploring now?" He asked, deferring to me, as always, in situations where logic was necessary.

"No, we have to wait for the Bell-Viper to come back," I said, moving across the tent to a room colored entirely silver and black. I dropped the small bag of supplies I had been carrying and sat down on the bed, suddenly exhausted.

Luffy pulled his hat down farther on his head in defiance. "I don't want to wait, Robin! What if the Bell-Viper is lost, we should go look for him!"

Luffy made as if to run out of the tent, but I conjured two extra hands, grabbing onto his ankles so he tripped. "No," I said. "Captain-san, this island could be dangerous. You wouldn't want to get hurt, would you?"

"Robin, don't be silly," he said, trying to untangle my disembodied fingers from his foot. "I never get hurt!"

Chopper laughed at that, as sarcastically as he could. "Luffy, you bring getting hurt to a whole new level," he said, turning from the perch he had found on a chair beside Nami. He paused for a second, looking thoughtful. "Do you think they have cotton candy here? I'm hungry."

The mention of food clearly sent Luffy over some sort of edge. Immediately, he began jumping up and down, his jaw working as if he were already chewing. "Yes, yes, yes! We need food!" He ran in circles. Nami rolled her eyes and kept looking at the map, while I regarded our captain with a smile. The thought of food had set my stomach rumbling, too.

Ussop and Franky had stood from their own rooms and come to stand by our captain, clearly almost as excited as he was about the prospect of something to eat. "It might not be a bad idea to have some of us go out and look around," Ussop said. "Just to see if there's anything to eat around here."

I stood immediately, walking to Nami's side as she began to argue. Luffy, meanwhile, was growing more and more impatient, continuing to run in circles and dramatically miming his own death at the prospect of going hungry for another minute. We stood around the table, looking at the map that Nami was doing her best to figure out, while Chopper and Luffy salivated over the long list of carnival foods they were desperate to find.

At the mention of funnel cakes, something in Luffy snapped and, despite my warnings, he picked up his hat from the table and made to rush out. Just as he was about to exit, though, a figure appeared in the doorway.

She was small, probably half a head shorter than Nami, and absolutely gorgeous. She had gold hair that bounced in the way you see on television but never in actuality, and large, smooth green eyes cupped by perfectly round, perfectly red cheeks. Her body was small and fit, a dancer's, but her waist was still impossibly small, her hips and breasts curving smoothly out to form a perfect hourglass. She wore an incredibly short sequined pink dress, white gloves, and ankle-high white boots. Around her long, slender neck was a short chain with a huge pink diamond glistering at her throat. "Oh!" she said, clearly startled by nearly running into Luffy. "I'm very sorry I didn't mean to—are you alright?" she said, turning to look at Sanji. The crew, used to Sanji's romantic tendencies, had not even turned when his nose had started bleeding so fiercely he fell to the ground, turning steadily pale.

"He's fine," Nami said, pushing her way to the front. I saw her eyes flick over the girl. She crossed her arms and for the first time in memory I saw Nami's self-consciousness in the face of another person. She knew her dirty T-Shirt and shorts and messy braid were nothing to this rose-pink beauty standing before us. "Who are you?"

The girl looked genuinely surprised at Nami's hostility, as did the men on the crew. Nami was only hostile when someone owed her money. Or a drink. Under Nami's hard, dark gaze, the girl quelled a little, like a bird shrinking from a cat. "My name's—"

"Nila!" Came a familiar voice from outside. The Bell-Viper trotted up behind the girl, meeting her in the entrance of our tent. He had shed his crimson and purple clothes from the morning in favor of a sea-blue vest and crisp, black pants. His tophat, though, remained unchanged and sat askew on his head. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to." The Viper turned to us. "Well, Straw Hat Pirates, I see you have met Nila."

"Yes, we have," came Nami's clipped reply while the rest of us nodded.

The Viper considered Nami with a little smile, almost pitying. "She's a tightrope artist here at the Circus Avalon." He clapped his hand around Nila's shoulders. "I sent her to meet you. She'll accompany us on your tour. I think she knows the circus better than even I do!"

Nila looked at the Bell-Viper coyly, her shoulders hunching a little as she laughed. "No one knows the circus like you, ringmaster!" She teased. Her laugh was almost sickeningly sweet, almost sticky. The attraction between Nila and the Bell-Viper was clearly visible in both of their porcelain faces.

Nami rolled her eyes and took a few steps back towards the table with the map. "Can we go now?" She asked.

"We're hungry!" Luffy said, his eyes wide and a little glassed. He'd gone a full morning without eating anything, and clearly he was not going to have any more of it.

The Bell-Viper clapped his hands and clicked his heels together, as he'd done before, to get our attention. "Very well, then. We'll be off to the gypsy market first, I suppose. If you'd care to wake your swordsman, we can go."

I'd forgotten Zoro sleeping behind us. Turning, we saw him sprawled impossibly across the bed, snoring. Nami, now more irked than ever, walked over and smacked him on the head. "Get up, asshat. We're leaving." Before the man could react, she'd stomped her way back across the tent.

Zoro sat up instantly and, throwing himself to the ground, began furiously doing sit-ups. We all stared at him, waiting for him to get his bearings. After a few seconds, he stopped, turning to look at us. Embarrassed, he stood, clearing his throat and fetching his katana from where he'd laid them by his bed. "Well, let's go," he said awkwardly, pulling his shoes on as he walked towards us.

Tripping on a rock, he stumbled, but managed to save himself from falling, taking a few clumsy steps. When he looked up, it was right into Nila's face.

Her intake of breath was instantaneous. Looking into Zoro's eyes always evoked emotion in the onlooker, but not usually so dramatic. He froze, looking her up and down. Bent over as he was, she was almost his height. But when he straightened and leaned back on his heels, he towered over her. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, hand resting, as always, on the hilt of his sword.

The girl quivered a response, "I'm…Nila," she said.

Zoro raised an eyebrow, confused by her hesitation. "Well hi." He sighed angrily, turning to the Bell-Viper. "You're back," he said, harshly.

The Viper looked at him with the same challenging stare they'd shared before, one that said _I'm stronger than you_, in unspoken tones. "Yes, of course, master swordsman. Nila and I will show you and your crew the island now, if you'd care to join us."

He looked at Nami. "Food?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, moving a step closer to him, leaning on one hip.

I watched Nila shoot her a quietly venomous gaze and half-smiled. I could already sense the ripples of what I was sure would be a very interesting stay on the Circus Avalon beginning.

"Then I'm in," Zoro said.

The Bell-Viper nodded, turned, and walked out of the tent without another word. As I exited the tent, I turned to look at the floor, where the light lay, quietly spelling _Circus Avalon_ in spiraling letters.

* * *

_Come on in the water's fine_

_if you forget to feel cold. _

_I'll keep you warm, Luffy_

_and then I'll let you drown._

* * *

It was evident that the gypsy village was neither Nila nor the Bell-Viper's home. The people there had wooden caravans and strange, carpet-sided tents that opened into shop-fronts. The Bell-Viper told us they were the closest settlement to the beach, and parts of their village spilled onto the sand. Fishermen dared trips to the coral reefs offshore, where the water was so clear blue and shallow you could see oddly shaped sharks and gigantic, bat-like rays swimming just underfoot among schools of jewel-bright fish and shrimp.

The people there were strange, unlike any we'd seen in our travels. Their skin was dark olive, sometimes actually greenish, and their hair was dark and wild. It was evident that most of the women never cut their hair, and many girls my age sported long, wildly curling locks held away from their faces with gorgeous barrettes and combs in colors that I could tell had some significance. The men kept their hair short, out of their eyes, to make hunting and working easy. All of them carried a sense of wild melancholy about them, like they had sprung from an old fairytale where monsters haunted the shores and demons strayed wise and free across the shores.

Their clothes bespoke a civilization that thrived in heat, with the girls in loose, flowing skirts and low-cut white blouses, while very few men bothered with shirts, wearing knee-length trousers held up by rope belts. Every one of them wore some kind of jewelry. Women sported dozens of necklaces while men wore bracelets far up their arms, some to the elbow.

As we entered the market, some bowed to the Bell-Viper or nodded silent heads at him before returning to mending fishing nets or clothes. The children in the vicinity called to their friends and flocked around Nila, who leaned down and spoke to them, pulling a deck of cards from somewhere in her skimpy excuse for a dress in the beginning of a magic trick. I looked around, enthralled by the people and their lifestyle, for which I could only get a taste. Somehow it reminded me of Ohara.

Sanji, beside me and still sporting stains from his episode with Nila earlier, caught the eye of a beautiful gypsy girl and winked. She smiled back at him, revealing teeth sharp as the Bell-Viper's behind her perfect lips. Sanji started, and I jumped as well. Turning my head, I looked at a gypsy who was conversing with the Bell-Viper and noticed that he had the same teeth. They all did, even the tiny children. It made me shiver, though I didn't know why.

The Bell-Viper turned to us, motioning for Nila to come to his side with a wave of the wrist and a snap. She obeyed, leaving her crowd of admirers. "Straw Hat Pirates," he said. "You may trade goods here for food. The gypsies deal in oddities, they love things they don't understand."

I turned to a little boy who was staring, entranced, at the earrings I wore. His eyes were big as moons, but when he caught me staring he jumped back, running off to play with other children.

Though the gypsy market stretched at least half a mile down the beach, the Bell-Viper told us that we'd find the best food on the main thoroughfare. He told us to meet him in an hour, and to enjoy ourselves. We split into groups, on instinct. I walked with Franky, Brook, Zoro, and Nami. Following Zoro's keen sense of smell (spurred, I'm sure, by the ravenous appetite we were all feeling by now), we wandered farther down the street to one of the last booths before the sea. The woman tending it had four or five small children scattered around her. They were playing some sort of game with a stick and ball in a circle on the dirt at their mother's feet. The woman herself was stringing together exquisite glass beads to form a skirt. She was hunched over her work and did not notice our coming until Franky cleared his throat.

The woman looked up, as did her oldest son. Immediately, her dark face alit in a wide smile. "Travelers!" she said excitedly, looping the thread of her needle into a pincushion and standing. "Welcome to the Circus Avalon!"

"Thank you," Brook said.

The woman considered him intently. "A walking dead man? You'd fetch a pretty penny at someone's marketplace. I've not seen one like you in years."

The four of us exchanged glances. As far as any of us knew, there was only one talking, walking skeleton in the whole of the Grand Line, and he was standing with us.

Brook straightened his shirt's collar. I spoke up, leaning closer to the woman. "Madame, do you mean to say you've seen one of my friend's crew-mates? He lost them a long time ago."

The tale elicited a smile in response. "That was decades ago, love. But I won't forget!" I noticed for the first time that one of the dozen necklaces she wore around her throat was made entirely from human teeth. The gypsy market hummed and buzzed around us, but in that moment, everything was quiet.

The woman's son, a boy of perhaps twelve, spoke up. "Have you come to trade for food?" He asked.

He was small for his age, with cunning eyes and sharp teeth like the rest of his clan. His hands were long, fingers splayed across his mother's counter. There was a small scar across his lips and cheek, jagged.

I smiled, setting down the bag I carried. "Yes," I replied. "We've come to trade."

The boy looked at his mother and she nodded at him. "You know how to trade, Otter, go ahead." There was a mother's light of pride in the wrinkled, slightly menacing face.

The boy set his jaw and turned to look at us. "My mother and I deal in stories and pictures. In exchange for one story we've never heard, we'll feed you some of our stew." He gestured at a bubbling pot beside his mother. The smell of spices from the yellow mixture made me remember how hungry I was.

My companions and I looked at each other, all smiling. We had more stories than the boy had hairs on his head. "So," Franky said, "which one do we tell him?"

Brook cocked his head to the side. "Alabasta?"

Franky and Zoro shook their heads. "Too long," Zoro said.

"The fall of CP9?" I suggested, details from our time in Water 7 flashing back through my thoughts.

"No," Zoro said. "I think a short, sad story would be best. I'm starving."

Instantly, I knew what story he had chosen. My heart broke for him and his lost friend, the girl who had spurred his greatest dream by leaving him alone.

Zoro stepped up to the counter, taking one of his swords and laying it on the table.

"Do you have your story?" The boy called Otter asked. Zoro nodded, and the boy beamed, reaching under the counter for something. What he produced was a strange, shallow gold bowl, into which he poured seawater from a crystal decanter. Before we could ask the machine's function, he explained. "It's called a Veritometer. It measures how true your story is. If the water turns red, or starts to evaporate it means you're lying." In the machine, it was clear that old pieces of the gypsy culture were still alive. The Veritometer had the feel of something very old and respected.

Zoro nodded, his face already solemn. "Well, nothing I'm about to tell you is a lie." He gestured to the katana on the table. "This sword once belonged to a wind spirit," he told the boy. "Her name was Kuina, and she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world. She could use a sword better than any man or woman on earth!"

The boy, clearly fascinated, looked down at the Veritometer. The water hadn't even quivered.

"One day, she and I met on a small bridge where I used to go to practice my fighting. Kuina challenged me to a fight." He laughed under his breath a little. "I was young and very stupid, and I thought I could beat her. After a duel more challenging than any I had ever fought, I thought I had Kuina pinned. But just when I was about to call time, to lower my sword in the traditional sign of victory, she caught me by surprise and won the duel." Zoro paused, putting his hand on the sword. "I was so angry that I didn't go home for three days, just practiced and practiced in the dojo, until I could beat even my master. But no matter how many times we fought, Kuina always won.

Eventually, I accepted the fact that she was better than me, and I let her teach me. We became best friends and fought together every chance we got. She was amazing, talented to a ridiculous degree, and she beat me every time. But I never stopped trying, determined to show her that I wouldn't give up just because someone was better than I was. That was how I first learned the cardinal rule of being a swordsman: Always honor those who defeat you above anyone else because they're the ones who can actually teach you something."

Zoro took a long pause. "I came to love Kuina very much, and we talked often of traveling together, of spending our lives training and training, fighting where all the old masters from the stories my teacher told me did. But where I come from, girls weren't supposed to fight. So when Kuina turned thirteen, her mother wanted to make her give up fighting altogether. Kuina made me swear to her that I would keep fighting, that I would help her train in secret, that one day one of us would be the best swordsman in the entire world. I kept my promise, and we trained in secret together, both of us improving. Now I'm working to keep my promise to her, to beat everybody who stands in my way," he clenched his hand around the sword, clearly thinking of Mihawk, "so that I can become the best in the world!"

Otter's eyes were wide, looking at the katana and then at the man who held it. His eyes kept flicking back to the Veritometer, which had not changed at all, bespeaking the truth of Zoro's tale. "What happened to her?" Otter asked. He turned to look at me. "You're Kuina, aren't you? He took you with him, like he said!"

Zoro smiled wryly. "That's Robin," he said, looking into the boy's face. "A day after Kuina and I had made our promise, she died. Fell down some damned stairs of all things. But I still carry her sword, and I intend to use it to defeat any rival that I feel might be beating me. Because Kuina lives in it, I know she does."

His story finished, Zoro took his katana from the table and slipped it into his belt beside the other two.

Both Otter and his mother looked stunned. Clearly the story had impressed. "Travelers never disappoint," the woman said, running her fingers through her thick, black hair. "Agate," she called. A girl about the same age as Otter appeared from a caravan behind the stall.

"Yes?" The girl said, looking at us warily.

"Get these travelers some stew and rosemary bread." The woman turned back to us, watching Otter put away the Veritometer from the corner of her eye. "My name's Delphine. If you ever need food, please return. We love stories here." Agate brought four steaming bowls of stew and large chunks of bread to us, laying them on a table a few feet from the counter.

I smiled. "We'll be back, I'm sure."

Delphine thanked us, then went back to weaving her bead skirt as the four of us sat down at the table and began to eat.

The stew was unlike anything I had ever tasted. It was rich with seafood and spice, tasting of the salt water and the desert all at once. The bread was surprisingly spicy and crisp, but complemented the stew wonderfully. We sat in silence, eating. I kept glancing at Zoro, who looked sad, all emotion in his hard face drawn inside.

When we were finished, it was nearly time to meet the Bell-Viper, so the four of us began meandering back towards the place we'd first left the rest of our crew. Brook and Franky pressed ahead, investigating all the gypsy market had to offer. I was sure the crew could have spent days here, if given the chance.

I lingered back with Zoro, walking quietly at his side. Eventually, he turned to me. "What?" He asked, stopping and looking at me with his arms crossed.

"I thought you weren't going to talk about Kuina anymore, swordsman-san," I said.

He opened his mouth to make a biting retort, then closed it again, sighing. "Yeah, I know," he ran his fingers through his hair. "It's just that I keep having dreams about her. She'll pop up in the most random places, and I can't help thinking that maybe she's mad at me for going so far without her."

I disguised my pity for Zoro behind a cool mask of emotionlessness before replying. "Swordsman-san, you are an incredible warrior. If Kuina's spirit can see you, she wouldn't be angry about that, would she?"

He shook his head, laughing. "If she were alive, I would have found a way to take her with us. I think she and Nami would have gotten along well. Would have made for some interesting dinner conversations."

For the first time, I saw what might have been a tear at the corner of Zoro's eye. "Did she love you back?" I asked, point-blank.

He looked up at me, surprised by the directness of my question. "Yes." he replied. "She once said she would have married me, if I'd asked."

"You never told that part of the story before," I said calmly, starting to walk again. I could hear the Bell-Viper's voice in the distance, and didn't want to keep the crew waiting.

He was quiet for a second. "This island scares me, Robin." He said. "I don't know why, but it does."

_It scares me, too_ I thought. But I stopped myself from saying it. Zoro didn't need to know what I was afraid of. "Swordsman-san, are you scared of clowns?" I laughed and he laughed with me, putting an arm around my shoulder for a second.

"I'm sorry I was ever suspicious of you," he said.

_And I of you_, I thought, remembering an image from somewhere of Zoro slicing Luffy's face to ribbons. It was a vivid flash from my nightmare, and instantly I shut it out. "It's alright, swordsman-san."

The Bell-Viper's voice had grown louder, and I could hear him calling to Brook and Franky, who had gotten distracted by a vendor selling old clocks. "Come on," Zoro said. "Waiting's hazardous to Luffy's health, we should hurry up."

I nodded and we set off at a brisk pace through the colorful, desert streets of the gypsy market. I promised myself I would return as soon as I could, to learn more about the people and their culture. Zoro walked a few steps ahead of me and I stared at his back as we went. _If swordsman-san is scared, why is no one else?_ I thought. Our crew's second name should really have been the False Sense of Security Pirates, though, so everybody's obliviousness almost didn't shock me. Still, my own doubt was returning, especially as I turned to look at the Bell-Viper and Nila with their pale, too-perfect faces. I looked down at a gypsy child and she smiled at me, flashing wickedly pointed teeth. Suddenly, the whole island seemed sharp.

_Your swordsman, too? _

_Oh Luffy, what treasures you have brought for me to play with!_

_I hope you won't miss them too badly when they go away_

_because the circus needs more performers_

_and the circus won't be denied. _


	5. Chapter 5

*Just a warning to all of you! Starting probably in the next chapter or two, things in this story are going to start going downhill pretty fast for the Straw Hats. So if you don't like scary things, or happen to have a penchant for tracking down fanfiction authors who kill your favorite characters, I'd recommend dropping this story! Other than that, glad to hear everybody's enjoying!

After we retreated from the gypsy market back up the hill into the maze of tents, the Bell-Viper sent Nila away for some whispered reason no one on the crew was privy to. She pouted prettily as he did so, turning to look at Zoro and give him a wave and a coquettish smile. Zoro raised his eyebrows and gave her a sarcastic wave back.

Both Nami and I concealed laughs behind our hands as Nila blushed and turned to go. Nami rolled her eyes dramatically, miming a broken heart. But I noticed a look of triumph in her face as she glanced at Zoro. He returned her look with a slight shrug and a playful half-smile.

The Bell-Viper gave us a choice about the next place we wanted to go. He told us we could see the fortune-teller or the Garden of Beasts.

There was hardly a second's hesitation before Luffy shouted "The Garden of Beasts! There! We want to go there!"

The Bell-Viper's hat was buffeted from his head in the force from Luffy's excited shouting. I was pleased to see the snake-man could actually look surprised. Maybe even a bit afraid. The rest of us had had the sense to cover our ears the second the Bell-Viper had mentioned the place, knowing Luffy's excitement would be uncontainable.

The snake-man bent into the dust to pick up his hat, brushing it off. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a voice from a nearby tent.

"What the 'ell's all the noise about?" Said a thickly accented voice. From the tent emerged a boy about Luffy's age. He, unlike the rest of the people we'd seen so far, had neither sharp teeth nor any animalistic features. His well-muscled shoulders and lithe build told me clearly that he was one of the circus's performers. He was shirtless, so it was easy to see the two large, curved blades that criss-crossed across his back, their sheaths strapped across his chest. The boy's red hair and blue eyes set him apart from any other group of people we'd seen. He rubbed his eyes as he came into the light, like he was unused to seeing it.

The Bell-Viper froze, a look of barely concealed disgust on his face. He replaced his hat, his fingers clenching just a little too hard on the brim, denoting frustration. He spoke to the boy in a flippant tone, like the young man was unworthy to listen. "Oh, forgive me Tentmaster, our guests were simply stating their wish to see the Garden of Beasts."

The boy leaned his weight on one hip, looping his thumbs through two belt-loops and cocking his head to the side. He surveyed the Bell-Viper with something along the lines of distain. "Well, well. If it isn't the ringmaster himself. Charmed, I'm sure." The boy dropped into a low bow, all but dripping with sarcastic deference. It was the first time I'd seen anybody at the circus show disrespect to the Bell-Viper, and I held my breath, half expecting the ringmaster to strike like the snake he was named for and kill the boy.

Straightening, the boy surveyed us. His eyes rested conspicuously on each of us in turn. He took in Franky's strong metal limbs and Brook's skeletal ones with a look of curiosity and almost pity. Sanji, lighting another cigarette, he glanced up and down at several times. Usopp's look of fear elicited a slight shrug. His mouth twitched in a smile when he saw Zoro's blades, and he raised his eyebrows when he looked at Nami and I. Luffy's straw hat, though, was what really drew his attention. His whole persona changed when he saw it, and he dipped his head in respect.

"Well, ringmaster," he said, still looking at Luffy. "Seems you've snagged yourself some clever little birds, eh?" He laughed a little. "Watch out for him," the boy jerked his head towards our guide, meeting my eyes, "he's like every other snake. Bite once it gets dark."

The Bell-Viper's face went even whiter, his scales flashing all vibrant green for a moment. His hand moved so quickly it was impossible to trace its motion, but suddenly the whip he'd been carrying at his belt since we'd first encountered him was slicing through the air towards the boy. It traced a glowing arc through the air, and fizzled as it cracked across the boy's arm.

He gave a cry and stumbled back. The Bell-Viper stood facing him, all fury, his shoulders hunched like he was about to pounce. "I am not an animal!" He hissed, his forked tongue sliding past his teeth. Franky, who was standing just behind the Bell-Viper, took a step back, examining the metal on his arm as though he'd been hit by the whip. But there was no mark, and my attention snapped back to the Tentmaster.

The boy stood looking defiant, holding the two deep gouges the Viper's whip had left with his other hand. He looked unafraid, even as the whip moved of its own accord towards his skin again. His only outward sign of discomfort was to take a step back, away from the whip. "Beat your own performers, will ya?" He taunted.

The silence in the air was broken only by the faint hissing of the Bell-Viper's breath through his equine nose, and the boy's little puffs of laughter. Nami had grabbed hold of me, clearly as surprised and terrified as I was at the Bell-Viper's ferocity. The snake-man's voice was more hoarse whisper than speech as he spoke. "There are worse things," he said. He let go of the whip, which slithered back to its place at his side, and took hold of the little merry-go-round horse around his neck. He raised it to his lips, opening his mouth as though to speak.

The boy backed off immediately, almost stumbling over his own feet in an attempt to get away. He took his hand off his injured arm, holding it up as though to defend himself. The blood on his palm glistened gold-red in the afternoon light. "No!" He said, scrambling back into the darkness, leaving only a few drops of blood behind him.

The Bell-Viper stared piercingly after him for a few seconds, and I was sure the snake-man could see as far into the dark as a cat at night. Then he dropped the chain around his neck and turned back towards us. "Forgive me," he said, setting off again, without another word.

We all had the sense not to ask questions, to follow him towards the Garden of Beasts we'd been promised a tour of. Luffy, however, in characteristic fashion, missed the memo and ran up beside the Bell-Viper, whose speed had dramatically increased, and said in his most un-hushed whisper. "Mr. Bell-Viper, who was that?"

The Bell-Viper did not stop, but I watched his eyes crinkle at the corners in distain. My spine shivered as for a moment the pupils became elongated, truly like a snake and not the humanoid we'd met. "That was a Tentmaster."He said. "They were the owners of this island before the circus moved in. We offered them safe passage from the island when we moved here, but they refused to take it."

My curiosity piqued, I drew up close to the Bell-Viper, watching him carefully. "And so you eradicated them?"

The Bell-Viper laughed, turning suddenly down a tented alleyway that smelled strongly of cloves and thyme. "No, we left them the underground. We call them Tentmasters because they're the ones who know how to build shelters to keep the storms out. They trade us their building or performance skills in return for safety from the monsters that live here."

Luffy pushed past me. "There are monsters here?" He asked eagerly.

The Bell-Viper's scales flashed yellow for half an instant, and his forked tongue flicked between his teeth. "More than you know, captain-san." He said quietly.

* * *

_Luffy, you're brave as a dog._

_And stupid as one, too. _

_I wonder what makes you so special, that you've been able to escape me for this long. Is it that crew you have? They're strong, all of them. _

_But every strength has its weakness, every mirror its tiny flaw. Hit them just right and they'll shatter, won't they?_

_I think we're going to have to start taking things away from you soon, Luffy._

* * *

The danger of the Avalon Circus was plaguing me again. Every time I thought about it, my ears began to buzz and ring, but I clung stubbornly to what I knew and the bits I remembered from my nightmare. This island looked nothing like that which I had dreamed of, but the Bell-Viper had said the circus had moved. Perhaps I'd dreamed of what the island would have looked like without the tents.

The rest of the crew seemed oblivious to danger, though. I walked beside Chopper, who was wide-eyed and bouncing up and down to see as much as he could. "Oni-chan," he called. Zoro stopped walking and turned around to see where Chopper was. The little deer raised his hands above his head. "I can't see!" he said.

Zoro laughed, waiting for us to catch up then grabbing Chopper around the waist and throwing him high into the air. Chopper squealed in delight, his little limbs flailing as he flew probably thirty feet into the air. Zoro caught him on his way down, and set him on his shoulder, where Chopper stood.

"There, now you've seen the whole island!" He said.

Chopper, now more excited than ever, took hold of Zoro's ear to maintain his balance. "There's so much! I wouldn't want to get lost here, that would be scary." His little face fell, his eyes widening.

Zoro reached up a little awkwardly and poked him lightly in the nose. "You, scared? You're brave, Ototo-chan," he said. Chopper gave him an uncertain look. Zoro smiled, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "And I'll always keep you safe."

Chopper smiled, and the two continued their conversation. Chopper was now becoming desperate for cotton candy, smelling every tent we passed to see if they might be hiding it there.

I watched them go, trailing a little behind. I heard a gasp and turned, surprised to see Franky behind me. He was not one to walk in the back of the group. He was stumbling a little, and looked like he might fall.

Immediately, I called for Chopper and ran back to Franky. I conjured four extra arms to support him as I crossed the short distance between us. When I reached him, the extra arms disappeared and he leaned heavily on me. I staggered a little under his weight. "Shipwright-san, what's the matter?" I asked.

He looked up at me, eyes wide and glassy with utter terror. "I see things moving…" he said faintly, his face spreading into a horrible smile.

Every hair on my body stood on end, and I had to force myself not to drop him right there. As calmly as I could, with my entire body feeling as though I had insects crawling all over me, I lowered Franky to the ground. The rest of the crew as well as the Bell-Viper ran up beside us. Zoro lifted Chopper down from his shoulder instantly, and Sanji, who had been carrying Chopper's bag, kneeled down beside us.

"Franky?" Chopper asked, pressing his hoof to the cyborg's forehead, and inspecting his body for injuries.

Sanji shook him by his shoulders. "Get that damn smile off his face!" He said, "it scares the shit out of me!" He slapped Franky across the face, but to no avail.

"Stop, chef-san!" I said, grabbing Sanji's arm before he could do any more damage.

Chopper was still speaking to Franky. "Can you hear me? Do you remember where we are?" He asked. He had removed his hat, denoting the seriousness of the situation.

"Is he going to die?" Usopp asked, seeing the worst, as usual.

The Bell-Viper was suddenly beside me, kneeling so close I could smell the faint metallic, reptilian odor of his scales. "Oh dear," he said.

Chopper turned, desperate. "Mr. Bell-Viper, do you know what's wrong with him? He's not wounded, is he?"

The Bell-Viper bent low over Franky, listening to his breathing and feeling his pulse. "Not physically. But that whip I lashed the Tentmaster with has poison in it. It doesn't have to touch you to effect you. I think your shipwright may be suffering from—"

The Bell-Viper was cut off as Franky's eyes rolled back in his head and his fingers began to twitch. His mouth was still grotesquely smiling as he opened his mouth and sang, without moving his lips or teeth, just as the Clockies had. "Ten little pirates went a' sailing in the brine, their ship went down a dark, cold path and now there's only nine!" He held up two fingers and before any of us could stop him, drove them straight towards his eyes. Zoro and Usopp leaped forward, each grabbing Franky's arms to stop him. Their strength was barely enough, and Franky continued to sing. "Nine little pirates went and opened up the gate, the gypsies came and ate one, and now there's only eight!"

The Bell-Viper threw out his arms, pulling both Usopp and Zoro away at once, and removed for the first time the fingerless glove from his left hand. There was a simple design drawn on it, nothing more complex than a circus tent with a weird grin and no eyes. "Get out!" He shouted, and pressed the glove right to Franky's chest, where his heart was.

The shipwright went rigid, his whole body arcing as though thousands of volts of electricity passed through it. His eyes opened wide again, the pupils so small they were just pinpricks of darkness. He made a weird coughing noise and I could see something in the back of his throat. Another cough and it was out.

The thing did not look animate, but it moved nonetheless. It was a fluorescent green blob, the color of bile, with one tiny black star at its center. Before the thing could move from the ground beside Franky's head, the Bell-Viper leaned over and slammed his ungloved palm onto it. It made a squelching noise, but when he moved his hand, there was not even a trace of it.

Franky lay coughing, now more regularly, on the ground. Chopper already had a cold compress on his forehead, and had recruited Sanji to hold Franky's legs up, so the blood could go to his heart and head. The crew was all crowding around, asking questions and leaning in to feel if Franky had a fever. Chopper kept quietly pushing their hands away, until finally he snapped. "Get back!" He shouted, uncharacteristically.

Everybody was shocked into silence, all taking a step back. Luffy's face was the picture of distress, and he was doing his best to push through Zoro and Sanji to reach Franky. "Franky!" He called. "Are you okay?"

I noticed suddenly that the Bell-Viper had vanished. Looking up and around, I saw him kneeling in the nearest tented alleyway, talking to a Clockie. It was taller than most of the others, with black hair and black eyes. It looked more intelligent, too. The gigantic eyes had the capacity to blink and it even appeared to be responding to what the Bell-Viper was saying to it. The Viper had replaced his glove, but still held the little ball of poison in his hand. I subtly conjured an extra ear on the back of the Clockwork Child's inanimate head to listen to their conversation. I heard the Bell-Viper's voice, not the clipped showman's voice we'd gotten to know, but the low growl-hiss he had used to address the Tentmaster.

"Take this to the funhouse. It knows their shipwright now, it'll be able to tell us."

"Yes, Viper." The thing said. Chills ran down my spine. The voice sounded like mine. Looking at the Clockwork Child, I could see a slight resemblance to myself, too. I drew my extra ear away, and took a few steps back. The Bell-Viper stood, saw me looking at him, and smiled a little bit.

Franky, meanwhile, had stood up and was rubbing his head. Chopper, now back on Zoro's shoulder, was saying right into his face that he'd better sit down or else. Luffy had stretched his arms out to take Franky by the shoulders and was shouting questions at him.

The Bell-Viper continued to stare at me, his head cocked curiously to one side. The poison that had possessed Franky was nowhere to be found, and there were no tracks in the dust from the Clockie's feet. It was almost as if it had never happened. Looking away, he strode up to Franky and Luffy, taking off his hat. "I am so terribly sorry!" he said, in a voice that almost sounded innocent. "Shipwright-san, are you feeling alright?"

Franky was ignoring Chopper's warnings and turned to look at the Bell-Viper. "What the hell was that thing!" He asked.

The Bell-Viper took a small glass vial from a pocket of his vest. The liquid inside was the same green as the ball that Franky had coughed up. "This is a poison, meant to control the more wild of the beasts here. It causes delusions."

"That's the understatement of the century!" Franky said, rubbing his temples. "Are any of those things true?"

The Bell-Viper looked away and did not answer Franky's question. "I'm so sorry," he said, bowing low again. "Please forgive me."

Franky turned to Luffy. The look on the Bell-Viper's face told him something. "We should leave," he said. "Now."

Everybody on the crew piped up in protest, myself included, to my surprise. "Franky!" Usopp said. "We can't leave now! What makes you say that?"

"He's right," said the Bell-Viper, putting his hat back on. "The tides won't let you go."

Franky looked for a moment like he would hit the snake-man full across the face. "I'm not buying that anymore," he said. "I'm going back to the Merry, who's coming with me?"

He stood looking at all of us, his eyes wild. The memory of that wretched smile plastered from ear to ear while he tried to gouge his own eyes out was still fresh in everybody's mind. I think we all considered him a bit mad at that point. No one spoke, not even Luffy.

"Fine," he said, setting his shoulders, his large muscles all tensed. Then he turned and walked away, back down the hill towards the gypsy camp.

All of us turned to look at the Bell-Viper. He was looking a little distraught, a little lost.

"Will he be safe?" Luffy asked.

The Viper started, like he'd been woken from a dream. He dropped the gold rocking horse on the chain around his neck, which he had been playing with casually. "Oh, yes," he said. "Your shipwright will be most okay. He won't be able to make it far." The Bell-Viper pulled a tiny whistle from his pocket and blew it. Almost instantly four Clockies emerged from the darkness just beyond a tent. As though they were waiting for his call. The Bell-Viper knelt and snapped his fingers. Like magic, four strawberries appeared in his hand. He offered one to each of the Clockies. "If you give me his name, I'll make sure someone meets him at the gate and escorts him back to your tent."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Luffy spoke faster. "It's Franky," he said.

The Bell-Viper whispered something in a strange ticking language to the Clockies and they went off, each in a different direction but none towards where Franky had vanished.

"How long will it take them to find him?" I asked. Something about the way the Bell-Viper had asked for Franky's name struck me as suspicious. The whole situation seemed like something out of a nightmare. The image of Franky's smile, and the odd poem he'd whispered were imprinted on my brain. _Ten little pirates went a' sailing in the brine, their ship went down a dark, cold path and now there's only nine! Nine little pirates went and opened up the gate, the gypsies came and ate one, and now there's only eight!_ It gave me chills.

But the Merry was safe. Whatever prophetic power Franky's delusions might have had was destroyed by that fact. It was harbored where we'd left it. Looking closely, I could even see the masts back at the bottom of the hill towards the sea. A cold wind was blowing from that direction, and for a moment I thought I heard a voice whisper "Go!"

But I convinced myself it had only been the wind, and turned to follow Luffy and the rest of the crew, who'd begun to follow the Bell-Viper towards the Garden of Beasts again. As though what had just happened with Franky was already forgotten. I noticed once again that dreadfully slow, dreadfully seductive calliope playing in the background. When it had started up was impossible to say, but I could feel the melody wrapping around my brain stem, pulling tight and constricting every ill thought I'd ever had. Everything on the Avalon Circus was perfect.

* * *

_The funhouse will have its way. I know his insides now, and there's no getting out of that!_

_It begins, now. Ten days until the tides change. Ten chances. _

_Ten days to make sure you're buried in a grave of calliope mist forever, and nobody remembers your name. Just like nobody remembers me._

_It's your fault, Luffy! _

_But I'm older than you know. Older and stronger and one day you won't have a way out. _

_Ten strong-hearted pirates thought the circus would be fun, _

_But the circus worked its magic_

_ and now there's only one…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again, warning for you all! Things are getting bad pretty soon, so please don't read this if you're going to yell at me for killing people! Also, please continue reviewing! I like hearing what you guys think of my story

**Also, for you observant readers out there, I'm a big fan of leaving subtle hints as to the resolution of this story, the backstory of the Avalon Circus and the Bell-Viper, and why the circus hates Luffy. If you read carefully, you might just find them! There's one or more in every chapter. They're very subtle, just to warn you guys. Let me know via review if you have any guesses, I'm curious to see how you all believe this story will end.

The Garden of Beasts was as splendid as we'd hoped it would be. After cresting the hill we'd been walking up since leaving the gypsies, a long, wide valley spread out before us. The seemingly endless tents of the Avalon Circus stopped halfway down the valley and the trees became small and thin. As we drew closer it was apparent they had been burned. A sudden thunderous roar from the valley floor told me how. Looking out over the valley I could see that enormous spaces had been cleared, some for pits or cages and others for sections of flowering plants that were extraordinarily beautiful even from a distance. At first it seemed that the Garden Valley was the island's center, but beyond the farthest trees I could see that a deeper canyon sank towards the sea. The trees were too thick to allow me to see the canyon's bottom.

The monsters there were magnificent. There were dragons unlike any we'd encountered, ancient things with lizard-eyes and bodies still as stone. Their muscles pulsed and throbbed with fire, completely visible through translucent skin. In a pit there was a Bananawani larger than any I had ever seen, at least five times my size. It writhed in its secret hole, reminding me horribly of Crocodile. I drew back from the edge, shivering. Beside it in a tank of murky green water were what appeared to be mermaids. They looked nothing like the mermaids we had encountered before. They were only about the size of my arm from elbow to wrist and instead of beautifully scaled fishtails, they were half-shark. They all had large olive-colored eyes that watched us as we passed. When Zoro paused to look at them longer, one gnashed her teeth at him and roared, producing bubbles and a horrible screeching sound above water. Zoro backed away, shocked. The mermaid gave a coy laugh and chased her sisters away through the green depths.

As we continued on, the organization of the Garden Valley became apparent. The rarer and more ferocious an animal, the farther along its cage. Each enclosure was labeled with the animal's species and its rarity on a scale from one to ten.

Quite far along, a cage of huge big cats piqued Nami's interest. The Viper said they were from outside the Grand Line and that he had discovered them in the home of one of the gypsies who had traded with a man from offshore. Remembering Nami's interest the Bell-Viper showed her how when he threw a piece of meat into the cage, the cats would literally tear each other apart to get it. Nami seemed a little horrified at that and stared wide-eyed at a magnificently spotted cat whose body lay torn apart as the others feasted. The Bell-Viper assured her the cat had hidden her kittens carefully and that her legacy would continue on.

There was a collection of horses the Bell-Viper said had been collected from an island in the New World we had yet to see. They were shaggy creatures with long, curling hair and untrimmed manes that fell in their eyes. Unlike regular horses, they had huge bat-like leathery wings spreading from their shoulders, which they folded and unfolded, longing for flight. Beside them was a group of glistening blue and yellow wasps whose hive spread over twelve feet square. Each line in it was perfect, and it was clear the structure of the wasps' society was incredibly complex.

The Bell-Viper took a turn into the garden area of the valley, where he showed us that some of the plants themselves were possessed with life. There were trees that casually sang to themselves, swishing their perfectly heart-shaped purple and pink leaves back and forth on their branches. The Viper told us that Nila's mother had been the one to discover the trees and that her name originated from the trees' name, Nila-Nila Willow. I heard Chopper whisper that they looked like gigantic sticks of cotton candy. The trees seemed bored to me, as though instead of sitting in pots they would rather be up and walking beside us. As we walked by, the trees froze and pretended to be still, obviously a camouflage technique. I turned as we passed out of the little circular grove of them and saw that each tree had gigantic wood-brown eyes that watched us as we passed. It made me jump, pressing a hand to my heart. Evidently, the trees were surprised too. They blinked their eyes shut and remained still.

A beautiful collection of flowers possessed no life, but the truly remarkable thing about that part of the garden was the butterflies. The Viper said they were the only animals in the Garden of Beasts that were native to the island the circus resided on. There appeared to be three kinds of them. The scarlet ones were tiny and slow, pattering between the flowers almost as though they didn't even need to move. The yellow ones were slightly larger and flew erratically. I could see that their wings were different sizes, which made them fly in hilariously skewed circles much of the time. I whispered this to Chopper and he laughed into his hoof, trying to stay quiet so as not to scare the butterflies. The purple butterflies were the largest ones, bigger than both of the palms of my hands. Their color was almost hard to look at it was so vibrant, a shade of purple that put kings to shame. At the tip of each wing were lazuli blue diamonds, barely pinpricks that gave their wings the effect of shimmering. Nami was captivated by those wings and the languid slowness with which they moved. She stood with her head cocked to one side like she was watching a storm while the butterflies drifted in and out of the flowers. She was standing so stock-still and fascinated by them, her eyes wide and vacant, that when the Bell-Viper turned to go with the rest of us she took no notice.

The Viper walked ahead, trailed closely by Luffy and Usopp as he explained the edible merits of some of the flowers we had seen. I turned to go, glancing over my shoulder at Nami. Zoro walked up to her and touched her almost cautiously, putting his hand on her back.

"Nami?" He asked.

She startled, jumping as though she were waking up from something. "Oh!" Her hand flew to her throat and she laughed a little breathlessly. "Sorry, I guess I just got caught up in my thoughts." I noticed as she turned towards me that there was a sort of shadow over her brow, like whatever thoughts had been haunting her still plagued darkly.

She took a step and staggered. Zoro reached out to catch her, his arms around her waist and shoulders. "Careful!" he said. "Are you alright?"

Nami shook her head and her brown eyes cleared. For a moment they seemed to reflect eerily purple as she looked sidelong at one of the enormous butterflies, but the illusion faded and she stood straight in Zoro's arms, taking a quick step back and blushing a little. "Yes, I…" she looked up at him and then across at me, her mouth open to speak. "It was nothing. I'm just a little thirsty."

Before either of us could say anything she breezed away to talk to Sanji and Chopper. Zoro was left staring bewildered after her. I looked at him casually.

"None of this can be good," he said. Whether to me or to himself, I don't know.

"I know," I replied emotionlessly.

He laughed a little ironically. "Do you really?" he asked. That same dark shadow passed over his brow that had passed over Nami's. I almost thought I saw him shudder.

_More than you know, swordsman-san_ I said. My fear of the island was no longer intermittent, I would not feel at ease until Franky had rejoined our crew and we'd all left the island. Something in the air stirred a dark place in my lungs, or maybe it was something in the Bell-Viper's voice or the sharp-toothed gypsies or that little song the Clockwork Child had sang to us when we first arrived.

_Jack and Jill went up the hill_

_to fetch a pail of water._

_Jack fell down and broke his crown_

_and Jill came tumbling after…_

Even thinking of it gave me chills. I was walking behind Nami and Luffy, absorbed in trying to remember my nightmare in as casual a way as possible and to ignore the almost burning ring in my ears as I did so when the whole crew came to a dead stop.

"Whoa!" Luffy shouted. He clearly had the intention of running directly at whatever he had seen. Before any of us could stop him, Luffy was climbing among the leaves of a gigantic and ancient tree. I looked up at it and was forced to do a double take as the Bell-Viper ran shouting after Luffy, yelling at him to get down.

The tree itself was nothing special. An oak tree like many we'd seen, the leafy branches alert and woody, their leaves rustling in the slight sea wind tracing down the valley. But the entire thing defied reality because it hung suspended entirely upside down. My eyes opened wide and I scanned all the knowledge I had ever gained to try and find a reasonable or logical explanation for the tree's defiance of the laws of gravity. There was none, and I was left standing in awe along with my nakama.

The roots were writhing in the air, their movement not slow as you would expect a tree's roots to move. They were like worms, and as I drew closer I could see there were birds trapped in them, some dead and some still alive, but all being pulled into the tree's center like it was some sort of gigantic anemone sucking at the sky. I felt myself drawn to the tree, and as I moved closer I could see three or four of its gargantuan cousins behind and beside it, all writhing just as the first one was. There were sounds emanating from those trees, sounds that made Chopper press his hooves to his ears and squint his eyes almost shut. The sounds were high and callous, banshee calls as the trees devoured the birds.

The Bell-Viper, like Chopper, seemed bothered by the sounds. His scales were flashing brightly and ever clearer, like they were trying to press through his skin.

"Robin," Usopp asked me, more fear than anything in his voice. "What are these?"

"I don't know," I breathed, feeling my hands clench into fists. The trees appeared to me to be struggling, like they were the sufferers of some great wrong, the last of a brilliant civilization hung on display so we could watch their languishing deaths. Trance-like, I walked forward to ask the Bell-Viper. "Ringmaster-san," I began.

He whirled so fast it was impossible to see him move. The eyes were no longer hazel but deep black, like a snake's, and his teeth were long and pointed and hollow, just like the viper for which he'd been named. He hissed loudly, his forked tongue flicking out between his teeth.

I let out a small scream and fell back in the grass. The hungry eyes bored down into me and he was half-bent to strike when Sanji was at my side. He dealt the Bell-Viper an enormously powerful kick to the side. Disturbingly, he absorbed the impact as though it were no more than a casual tap, but it forced him back to humanity. Instantly, almost all the scales vanished and his eyes and teeth returned to normal. Without a word, he turned and ran back the way we had come until he was a safe distance from the trees. He stood panting, his hands on his knees.

Usopp, Sanji, and I ran after him, coming to a halt a few yards away. "Forgive me…" the Bell-Viper panted. "Those trees have a primal power I'd forgotten. They turn animals vicious. I'd watch your doctor carefully if I were you."

I turned to look at Chopper, who was looking up into Zoro's face with something bordering on hatred. Zoro had his hands up as if in surrender. Chopper darted towards Zoro. The larger man took the fierce bite on his arm without protest, wrapping his arms around a struggling Chopper and running to where we waited far from the trees.

As soon as they were as far as we were from the trees, Zoro kneeled in the grass, holding Chopper close. "Ototo-chan!" He was saying, "Ototo-chan are you alright?"

After a second, Chopper's tensed muscles relaxed in Zoro's grip. He stopped biting Zoro and pulled away to look at the little bleeding wounds his teeth had left on his friend's arms. Almost instantly he burst into tears. "Oni-chan!" He wailed, reaching into the first aid kit he carried and bringing out a salve and some bandages. Though Zoro did not need the care, he allowed Chopper to take care of him. "I'm so sorry, Oni-chan! Please don't hate me."

Zoro put his hand on the top of Chopper's hat, pushing it down over the doctor's eyes so he looked around in bewilderment. Zoro laughed, "I could never hate you, Chopper," he said.

"But I—"

"Ototo-chan, it was an accident," he said. "Just don't go near those trees again," he said darkly.

Chopper finished bandaging Zoro's arm and looked fearfully back at the great trees. "I won't," he said. "They scare me."

No one said anything else about the trees after that, though I could hear those horrible sounds wringing in my ears for hours afterwards. We all watched the Bell-Viper and even Chopper carefully as we retreated from the garden back to the last exhibit, which the Bell-Viper told us he had deliberately saved for last.

I could not help noticing that as we receded from the trees, the Viper held the little merry-go-round horse on its gold chain close to his lips for a few seconds, and after that the circus's calliope became louder and more hypnotic again, playing an exotic-sounding tune that piqued my curiosity and drew me on. The crew all chatted happily in speculation about what could be coming next, and even Chopper, who had been sulkily depressed after his accidental attack of Zoro, skipped in circles around Sanji and Luffy.

As it turned out, the final exhibit in the Garden of Beasts was a collection of Sea Kings. The Bell-Viper showed us three hugely deep pools surrounded by fences at least a hundred feet high, made of a combination of metal and sea-stone. In each cage was a different Sea King. One looked almost mammal-like, with sleek black fur and gargantuan eyes whose whites could be seen on all sides. Its weirdly thin arms tapered to distortedly large paws showing claws that curled so viciously they could have torn the Merry apart with no trouble. The second was a huge snake. That one could speak, though its voice was so low and rumbling that understanding was impossible. The third looked like a gigantic goldfish, only when it opened its mouth to roar tremendously at us five sets of enormous teeth were bared. A second set of jaws, similarly equipped, erupted from the thing's throat as it charged us. All of our crew backed up, each pulling out or preparing our weapons, but the thing stopped before it hit the fence. A two-foot thick chain was pinned into the thing's body, keeping it from the fence. The Bell-Viper said that one had been caught off an island in South Blue, and was the most dangerous of the three, that it had attacked the people of the Avalon Circus many times before.

The creatures were a wonderful diversion, and allowed my scholar's curiosity to wander in and out of crevices of belief and science. I explained to the rest of the crew where the creatures must have come from and how each was no doubt suited to the environment where they had lived. Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy had a contest to see who could get closest to the gigantic goldfish without it charging. The Bell-Viper became perturbed at that, and stopped them sternly. But though the Garden Valley was rich with things to explore, I could not stop thinking of Franky. I tried to assure myself that he would be safe, that the Bell-Viper had said he wouldn't be able to leave. And I knew Franky was not the type to desert us, whether he made it to the Merry or not. He was safe, he had to be.

But then my thoughts would always drift back to the strangeness. The Clockies, the mist that had suddenly vanished, the way even Nami seemed not to care where we were and just followed the Bell-Viper blindly, how Franky had been poisoned, and those god-awful trees that had turned sweet Chopper into a monster. All of it was beginning to build a tapestry in my brain, though multitudes of the pattern were unseeable. It was like a riddle I could not solve.

Sanji dropped back to talk to me, looking concerned. "Robin, you seem worried," he said, giving me a characteristic dapper smile.

I tucked my hair behind my ear, dodging quickly as a lion in a cage took a swing at Sanji and I. "I'm just worried about Franky."

Sanji waved his hand and guffawed. "Oh, that lug nut will be fine! The Viper said he can't leave."

"I know that, chef-san." I said. "But it's odd not to have him with us."

Sanji scuffed is shoe in the dust. "Yeah, I guess that's true. But we'll see him tonight."

"Indeed you will," The Bell-Viper said, drawing up next to us. Both Sanji and I jumped. The man moved so silently his appearance had unnerved both of us.

Neither of us spoke. The Bell-Viper laughed, an odd, hissing sound. "You would almost think you two are afraid!" he said.

No response. Sanji tensed, grabbing my elbow as though ready to run.

"Nothing here will harm you, trust me," the Bell-Viper said.

"Seems like they want to," I replied, nodding my head back at the Sea Kings.

"Well that's the nature of monsters. They like to hurt things," the Bell-Viper replied coolly. "In any case, your shipwright—Franky, was it?—will meet you at the performance tonight. Nila's assembling our finest performers as we speak to show you all the spectacle of a lifetime!" The Bell-Viper's voice had taken on the showman's timbre once more.

Sanji and I looked at each other and smiled. Despite my fear of the circus, a performance by its members would no doubt defy the boundaries of reality. The Bell-Viper jerked his head and the three of us strode to join the rest of the crew, who were talking excitedly. Luffy came bouncing up as we got near.

"There's going to be a performance!" He yelled, running in circles with his arms swinging wildly.

The Bell-Viper laughed, rocking his weight back on his heels to survey Luffy. "Your captain certainly has a lot of energy."

"Too much sometimes," Usopp said, pressing his hand to his forehead.

Nami walked out from between Brook and Zoro and straight up to Luffy. She grabbed him by the ear, stopping him with the force only she seemed able to possess. "Luffy! Sit your ass down NOW! You're embarrassing everybody!"

Luffy stopped dancing immediately and sat exactly where he was. Nami, satisfied, said. "Good boy," she said sarcastically. Turning to Usopp, she brushed her hair behind her ear. "There, no more energy," she said, reengaging in her conversation.

Sanji, laughing, went away to join the conversation, putting his hand on the back of Nami's neck and leaning her in to kiss him. As usual, she slapped him so hard across the face he had a red imprint of her hand squarely on his cheek. The Bell-Viper laughed beside me. I turned to look at him, surprised. I'd forgotten he was standing there.

"She seems to have power over all of you," he said. "I'm surprised she's not your captain."

I bristled, my instinct to defend Luffy immediate. "No one but Luffy-san could be the captain." I said. Following his gaze to Nami, I continued. "She's our navigator. We all listen to her because more often than not she's the only one on board who knows where we're going,"

The Bell-Viper watched Nami hungrily. "If I had power like that, I would be the greatest ringmaster in the Avalon Circus's history!"

A tone in his voice made me curious, and I had so many questions it was a struggle to pick one. "There have been others before you?" I asked.

His tongue slid from between his teeth as he looked longer at Nami. His eyes were almost animalistic in the most disconcerting way possible. The casual sidelong pupils scared me more than they had when he'd nearly attacked me by the trees. "Why, of course. The circus is old, very old. Many beings before me have lead it."

"How long have you been ringmaster here?" I asked. There was a different sense about the Bell-Viper than I'd seen before, like he was far away and could not hear himself speaking, telling me secrets.

His scales went that odd emerald-like green. "Time goes oddly here. It's too long to say…" Suddenly he was back, and his glare was fiercely judgmental, holding me still. "You've been asking questions." He said.

I smiled a little. "Is it true that snakes can't lie?" I asked. "I read that somewhere."

"You're a clever little thing." He looked me up and down as he spoke. "I wonder how much you think you know. What you read was wrong," he hissed, a pointed smirk peppering his scaled face. "A snake never tells the truth."

We stood looking at each other. I could see his fingers itching towards the whip at his belt, and I already had an escape planned in my mind. My heart was pulsing loudly in my ears.

The tension between the Viper and I was broken by Zoro, who came striding up with Chopper on his shoulder, giving the Bell-Viper a hardly disguised look of disdain. The doctor looked a little nervous, like speaking to the Bell-Viper was an honor he hadn't prepared properly for.

"Go on," Zoro said quietly, lifting Chopper down with one arm and placing him at the Bell-Viper's feet. Chopper barely came up to the Viper's knees.

He stood there a little nervously, glancing back at Zoro, who nodded at him. "Umm…could I have…I mean, if it's possible could we maybe go and…" he glanced at Zoro again, who smiled more encouragement. Chopper squared his shoulders and faced the Bell-Viper. "Could we please go get some cotton candy?" He asked, looking up into the Viper's face.

The Bell-Viper was as helpless as anybody against the sheer adorableness of Chopper's innocently asked question. His face broke into the most human smile I had seen it with so far. He looked almost like a child himself. "Why, you should have asked me before!" He said, bending to Chopper's height. "There is a Sugarsmith on the island who spins the finest cotton candy anywhere in the world! We can depart immediately if you'd—"

The Bell-Viper's speech was interrupted by his shock when he turned around to find Usopp and Luffy standing so closely behind him he could not move. Each had a look of desperate hunger pinned to their face. "Did you say candy?" Luffy asked, as though his proximity to the Bell-Viper were not strange at all.

"Yes," the Viper said a little nervously. "I was just telling your doctor about the Sugarsmith we have here. She is the finest anywhere in the world."

Luffy's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged in excitement. "Holy shit!" He said. "Well what are we doing standing around here then?" Luffy grabbed hold of the Bell-Viper's arm and started dragging him bodily back the way we had come. If the Bell-Viper had at any time underestimated Luffy's strength, he was regretting it. He struggled in Luffy's grip, but our captain held him firmly, walking top-speed with Usopp just behind.

The rest of us laughed and took off running after them. The Bell-Viper, looking very rumpled and dissatisfied, was shouting curses at Luffy in his strange snake-voice. The rest of us ran to catch up with them, and I felt more alive in that instant than I had since arriving at the island. The Bell-Viper's eyes met mine and I communicated all I needed to say in a small smile. _You see why he is our captain?_

The Bell-Viper twisted in Luffy's grip and, close as I was, I could see that he was barely exerting any strength. He was deliberately allowing Luffy to drag him along. His eyes replied to my question. _Yes. But all his strength won't really be enough._

As we began to ascend from the Garden Valley, Luffy's face was spread into a gigantic smile. He ran ahead of us, bouncing off all the rocks and sometimes tumbling down small cliffs all without being hurt. The Bell-Viper had either given up trying to understand Luffy or had decided not to ask questions, because he simply watched our rubber-bodied captain with a vague air of curiosity when he was not busy leading us down the hill on the safest possible route.

"Captain-san," the Viper finally asked, when Luffy returned to ask me how it was that hills came to exist, "how is it that you go unhurt down these rocks? Jumps like you've been making would probably break any of your nakama's bones."

"It's alright, Bell-Viper," he said, putting his hands on his hips and puffing up his chest proudly, "because rubber doesn't conduct electricity!" He thrust his arm into the air, finger pointing skyward, like his point was the definitive reason for the universe's existence.

Luffy turned to me proudly, beaming. "Robin taught me that!" He exclaimed.

Beside me Sanji face-palmed and Nami, Brook, and Usopp were all doing their best not to laugh. I blushed but smiled at Luffy, shaking my head a little. "Yes, that's right, captain-san," I said.

Sanji looked at me tersely. "The day you taught him that you dealt a knock-out blow to the face of logic."

The Bell-Viper looked confused. He glanced at the sky, maybe looking for storm-clouds, for lightning to justify Luffy's point. Finally he spoke. "Rubber…?" he asked cautiously. He was looking at Luffy like he was some sort of alien.

"Yes, I'm rubber! I ate a Devil Fruit when I was a kid," he said.

A small smile spread over the Bell-Viper's face. "Gomu Gomu no Mi. I should have known," he said. "Regular people can't do that, after all."

He turned to the rest of us. "Have any of you eaten a Devil Fruit?" he asked casually. His eyes flicked to Brook.

My instinct was to say no, to keep the Bell-Viper, who already appeared to know so much, in the dark. My abilities and Chopper's as well would have been easily disguised or kept hidden. We could have explained Brook away as a curse gone wrong or an animatronic invention of Usopp's or Franky's. But Luffy spoke faster.

"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Robin did, and Brook and Chopper both did, too."

The Bell-Viper raised his eyebrows, his eyes brightening as Luffy pointed to each of us in turn. I felt pinned down by those hazel eyes boring holes into me with the slight glint of triumph in them. The gaze flicked to Brook. "Well that explains you, my friend," The Viper said. He turned to Chopper, "and you, ishi-san." The snake eyes returned to me. "Robin," he said with a cunning little smile, "such a pretty name."

Chills went all up and down my spine and I recoiled, wishing I carried a sword like Zoro so I could strike the Bell-Viper and end the surely misguided sojourn to the Avalon Circus right there. I wished I had gone with Franky, whether to keep him safe or to keep myself safe I didn't really know.

Nami pushed past me to stand in front of the Bell-Viper, tossing her hair and leaning her weight on one hip coquettishly. "You never did ask our names," she said.

The Bell-Viper took a step forward, taking off his hat and holding it in both hands in front of him. "It's a courtesy. We never ask a guest's name."

"Why?" Nami asked.

"Because names hold power, just like their owners," he said, looking Nami up and down. She looked back at him and their eyes locked for a second.

"Well my name's Nami," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Does that make me powerful?"

"Nami…" The Bell-Viper spoke the word like he was rolling the sounds around his tongue, like Nami's name was an exotic grape he could crush in his teeth but preferred to let linger. "Named for the sea? Of course that gives you power." That hungry look came into his eyes again as he stared at her.

Zoro must have sensed it, too. "My name is Roronora Zoro," he said.

"And I'm Usopp."

Sanji stamped his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe before flicking his hair away from his eyes and introduced himself. "Sanji," he said.

"And I'm Luffy," our captain declared, crossing his arms proudly. "We're called the Straw Hat pirates on the Grand Line's seas."

The Bell-Viper surveyed us all with a hunger no one else seemed able to detect. "What a fine crew you are. Now, let's see if I remember all your names." He glanced at each of us in turn. "Franky, Brook, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Luffy, and Robin." He did not falter on a single name, as though he had known us all for years.

"And don't forget our ship," Luffy said. "Her name is Going Merry."

The Bell-Viper nodded. "What a fine name for a ship. The Going Merry and the Straw Hat pirates…" his voice trailed off as though someone else had begun to speak. After a few seconds he continued.

"Now, let's get you back to your tent. You'll all need to change before the performance. They're quite the affair on the Circus. If Nila's done her job properly you'll find clothes there for you, and a Clockie will be along to guide you to the performance once it gets dark outside."

He turned and set off at a brisk pace, which we all kept with. Excitement began to build in my blood as we entered the circus once more. The tents were starting to light up from within, and more human voices could be heard from within them. Some Tentmasters and gypsies, as well as a few people who looked like Nila, were walking the alleyways between the tents, talking to one another. It almost seemed like any other island. I felt a little uneasiness melting away, and followed the Bell-Viper with something bordering on happiness. My crew was all around me, and after twenty minutes of walking when we neared the tent, Franky shouted to us and ran down the hill, picking Nami, Sanji, and Ussop up in a giant hug. He was alright. I was alright, the affairs of the day casually slipping away as afternoon began tis lustrous close into evening. Everything on the Avalon Circus was whole and right and alive.

Brook began singing and the rest of us joined in, linking arms and laughing as we stumbled through the door of our tent. That last brightness…

what I wouldn't give to have them back.

* * *

_Feed. _

_Long ago the trees gave up their right to water. _

_The Sea-Kings their right to the ocean._

_The butterflies their right to mortality. _

_ Feed. _

_Jack and Jill went up the hill_

_ to fetch a pail of water. _

_ Jack fell down and broke his crown_

_ and Jill came tumbling after. _

_I wonder how far they will fall for you, Luffy. _

_Now the trapezes are set in their great mouse-traps and the spider-webs are spun on high-wires and the tents are only lit up from inside. _

_It's a pity we have to give your shipwright back to you, but if we didn't, well then you'd guess the ending and the game would be over too fast. _

_Tick_

_ tock._

_Don't you know I'm hungry, I can't wait much longer for my supper._

_All around the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel. _

_Monkey said it was all just for fun,_

_POP goes the weasel._

_I'll sing you to sleep with nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes and requiems are like flowers to me. You pluck them just to watch them die. _

_We'll lose one and another to the butterflies,_

_save the best for last and under the animal trees hang innocence by a struggling goose-neck throat! _

_Delight in your blood. Your liver-blood, rich on all the animals you've eaten, all the adventures. _

_ FEED._


	7. Chapter 7

Hi all! So hope you're enjoying, and I apologize in advance for the incredible length of this chapter (22 pages on Microsoft word). Oh, I also apologize for something else, a pairing that's beginning to develop from this chapter on. Its ZoNa, and it's nothing gross or weird at all, I swear. Also not a focal point of the story, just sort of a side plot. This fanfic is written as a birthday present for my sister, and that's the pairing she loves so I thought I'd include it in this story for her. So haters gonna hate and I'm cool with that, just thought I'd advise you all in case you have some horrible aversion to this romance.

Also, I'm thinking of changing this story's rating to "M". Please let me know if you think this would be a good decision!

My name is Nico Robin. I'm twenty-one years old. I was a member of the Straw Hat Pirates before they lost everything…

And within twenty minutes I'll be dead.

Listen to me! The circus moves wherever it wants to. Watch your back, keep your hands to yourself, stay away from the bushes and don't _ever_ look at your reflection because that's where it comes from.

There must have been tents in my eyes when I was born.

And high-wires.

And blood. So much blood it drowned them black.

What kind of place is this…! I can't remember and shut that damn calliope up or I'll slit my own throat with the sound!

Naked in the dark…

Fizzle out like a candle…

Too soon, too soon…

I'm crying, I know that much. And I know I'm scared. Maybe alone…

Luffy! I want to live, take me to sea with you!

Please…Luffy…?

_Good morning…_

I sob. "Good night."

* * *

"Luffy, stand still! I'm trying to help you!" Sanji gasped. He was holding onto Luffy by a red necktie, digging his heels into the ground.

Luffy, paying him no mind, was running in circles, dragging Sanji behind him. "You'll never take me alive!" He shouted.

I laughed. From my position at the mirror in my bedroom alcove, where I was twisting my hair into an intricate braid, I could see the farce playing out behind me.

Across the tent, from behind the closed curtain of her bedroom alcove Nami shouted, "Luffy! It's just a tie, you've worn one before!"

"Nami," Luffy called, attempting to climb the tent's central support pole while Sanji held onto his head. "That was different and much more badass!"

"We did only get him to wear that by promising he could carry the biggest gun," Zoro said. He was cleaning his blades, lounging casually with his feet on the large table, already dressed to kill in charcoal-grey dress-pants and a vest to match, buttoned over a pale grey dress-shirt whose sleeves he'd rolled up to his elbows to allow his hands freedom. He wore a chalky blue and grey necktie tucked into his vest.

"You could help, you know!" Sanji said.

"Oh, but you have so much more experience handling men," Zoro drawled.

"Shitty Marimo!" Sanji shouted, finally wrestling Luffy to the ground.

"Goodbye, sweet freedom!" Luffy called as Sanji secured the knot and thrust the end of the tie into Luffy's black jacket.

"There! Now Marimo, was there something you wanted to say to me?" He wheeled on Zoro, all but steaming.

Zoro put his sword on the table. "Only that your eyebrows are looking particularly okama-like this evening," he said, pressing a hand to his heart and feigning a swoon.

Sanji's face turned red. "Marimo!" He fumed "You might want to take off that suit or it'll get dirt all over it when I kick you on your ass!"

Zoro sank lower in his chair. "Good luck with that, I'm already sitting down!"

"Boys!" Nami shouted from across the tent, pulling her dressing curtain aside and stepping out.

Sanji immediately dropped to the floor, his nose a bloody mess. Zoro did a double take and stood clumsily, knocking his sword to the ground. He shook his head and I could see the infatuation with which he stared at her. Even I couldn't help looking.

Nami's dress was stunning. Backless and held up only by spaghetti straps, it accentuated the hourglass shape of her body perfectly, hugging her small waist and hips. The dress was deeply blue, so much so that it was almost black. But when she moved it glittered with tiny stones the same color as the wings of the butterflies that had so fascinated her. At her knees, the rich blue taffeta fanned out and trailed behind her, folding upon itself. Where it gathered at her left knee there was a large sliver flower that glittered with real diamonds, and at her throat and ears she wore jewelry of the same make. Her hair was down, curling magnificently around her shoulders, and she wore just enough makeup to highlight her deep eyes and full lips.

Luffy's jaw had dropped to the floor. Literally. "Holy sh-" he began.

"Luffy!" Zoro cut him off with a wave and straightened his lapels, walking towards Nami.

I smiled. Usopp, from across the tent, raised his eyebrows. Sanji stood and staggered into his own alcove to dress. "Well now it's all over…." he muttered as he passed. I conjured an extra hand and sent it with a handkerchief to him. "Thanks!" he said as he snapped the curtain shut.

I turned from the mirror and snapped my own curtain shut, giving Zoro and Nami privacy.

My own dress was laid on my bed, perfectly unwrinkled. It was a deep red, in perfect contrast to Nami's blue, with gold accents and long white gloves laying beside it. It was strapless and the skirt fanned out in a wide, tapering bell. It was the most beautiful piece of clothing I'd ever seen, and I surrendered to my vanity for a second, thinking how the red would contrast my black hair and dark eyes perfectly. Pulling off the short black dress I'd been wearing all day, I sat at the head of my bed and allowed myself a moment to breathe, my shoulders slumped and my face fell into my hands. _Nine more days, Robin. You can last nine more days…_I thought in an attempt to comfort myself.

In the tent's main chamber I could hear Zoro and Nami talking quietly, and though my Devil Fruit ability would have allowed me to eavesdrop easily, I resisted the urge. With a sigh, I stood and unzipped the sleeveless dress. After slipping on the strappy gold heels beside it, I pulled the dress over my hips, amazed at its perfect fit. _Really shouldn't be surprised. They know everything else about us._ There settled over me a feeling of inevitability, almost a doom. Maybe it was then that I first sensed the circus would be the end of all of us, myself included.

"Stop it." I said to myself out loud, pulling on the full-length white gold gloves and fastening a gorgeous gold and ruby necklace around my throat, with ruby drop earrings to match.

"Marimo!" Sanji called from next door. "You'd better not be kissing my Nami-swan!"

I opened my own curtain at the same time Sanji did. He caught sight of me and immediately turned around, his nose gushing blood again.

I laughed, leaning back a little. "Are you alright, chef-san?"

Sanji collapsed on his bed. "Yes. They gave me an extra shirt," he said.

"Well thank goodness _someone_ thought of that!" I teased.

My attention turned to Zoro and Nami, standing together in the center of the tent. It was hard to ignore Luffy, sitting on the table trying to undo both the button on his jacket and the knot in his tie. But standing there the two of them seemed separate from the rest of us. I could not see Zoro's face, but Nami's was turned up in a pretty smile as she looked up at Zoro through her lashes. Jokingly, Nami reached out and straightened Zoro's tie. In return he brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger on the diamond earring she wore.

"Oh God," Usopp said as he emerged from his bedroom and saw the two of them. "Franky, you got a drink?" He asked, turning to his friend who had also just emerged.

Franky walked across the tent towards me, with Usopp following him. As he neared, he bowed to me elegantly and picked up my hand, kissing it delicately. "You look beautiful, Robin," he said.

I laughed. "Thank you, shipwright-san."

Franky squeezed my hand and then straightened, producing a flask from the inner pocket of his suit-jacket. "What kind of question is that?" He asked, turning to Usopp. "Of course I have a drink!"

Luffy gave up in his quest to eat his tie and came to join us. "What's up with Zoro and Nami?" He asked loudly.

Franky clapped his hand over Luffy's mouth. "For God's sake Luffy!" He whispered.

"What?" Luffy replied through Franky's hand, not quieting his voice at all.

I hushed my own speech before replying. "Captain-san, we don't talk about some things."

"Damn, well it's been a long time coming," Franky said.

Usopp nodded, drinking deeply from the flask Franky had handed him. He tucked it into his own pocket, glancing sidelong at the cyborg and clearly hoping he wouldn't notice.

"It has indeed," Brook said, joining our circle. He craned his neck to see over my shoulder. "Where's Chopper? Isn't it almost time to go?"

I noticed for the first time that the sun had indeed set. The sounds of night had descended on the Avalon Circus, and the smells. I could almost taste the sea in the air and longed to run to it. "Franky," I asked suddenly. "Did you see the Merry today?"

He looked down at me in surprise. "I'd almost forgotten…" he said, his voice trailing off into silence. "No, I didn't. I got lost and ended up back at the gypsy camp. They told me not to go looking. Then the Bell-Viper found me on the beach…" he pressed his hand to his forehead as though to block a sound from his ears. "I don't remember seeing the ship at all…"

"You did have us all worried sick, though!" Brook said.

"Especially Robin-swan," Sanji added, coming up to join us, lighting a cigarette.

Franky looked lost. "Yes, I…I'm sorry about that. I don't really remember what happened." His eyes met mine. My pale, worried face was reflected two times back at me. "Robin, you remember…?"

The horrid grin he'd worn flashed vividly across my brain. I felt my fists clenching, my shoulders straining involuntarily. "You just left, Franky. The Bell-Viper's whip poisoned you and made you see something that scared you, so you said you were going back to the ship. You were gone all day."

"Franky, are you alright?" Usopp asked, leaning close to examine Franky's face.

"Yeah," the shipwright replied. "Just…remembering that made my head hurt." He looked into me again, as though he could see empathy in my eyes.

I opened my mouth to reply, but just then Chopper emerged from his own alcove dressed impeccably in a full black tuxedo with a white shirt. The tails of his little coat fanned out elegantly as he unbuttoned it. Around his neck he wore a bowtie, which he'd apparently attempted to tie, though the knot looked more like a bird's nest than anything. "How do I look?" He asked.

None of us could resist smiling, all moving to gather around Chopper, who tipped his hat at Nami and I. "You look pretty," he said to both of us. Nami and I exchanged glances. I could see her happiness painted fully in her eyes.

"Ototo-chan, come here," Zoro laughed, kneeling to help him. He undid the complexity of the knot Chopper had tied, struggling with the tightly wound fabric. Within a few seconds the bow tie was fixed and Chopper stood smiling up at all of us, the picture of excitement.

"I wonder when we'll get cotton candy!" he said.

"Probably at the performance," Nami replied with a smile.

Chopper reached out a hand to touch the fanning fabric at her knees. "This reminds me of the butterflies," he said. Zoro looked at Nami again, and though he was smiling I could see uncertainty in his eyes. The purple stones on her dress reflected on his face, turning him an odd and unearthly shade in that light.

My heart sank. For so long I'd been sure Zoro saw Nami as more than just a companion, and I knew that despite what she said, she'd dreamed in the same way. I hoped her happiness would not be short-lived.

"Good morning." The abrupt clockwork voice from behind us startled me half to death and I let out a little cry as I turned. Brook put his skeletal hand on my back, steadying me.

The Clockwork Child had dark skin and hair, like a gypsy boy. It was dressed as formally as we were, in a suit identical to Chopper's. "Good morning," it croaked again, its large mouth opening mechanically as it spoke.

"Are you here to take us to the performance?" Luffy asked it.

The thing did not reply, but its head opened wide as its brother's had, and as it turned it began to sing. "Three blind mice, three blind mice. See how they run, see how they run…" Without speaking to any of us or replacing the top of its head, the Clockie turned and walked out of the tent.

Excitedly, the crew exchanged glances and followed it at a brisk walk. Usopp and Luffy were in the lead, with Chopper trailing just behind. Sanji, Nami, and Brook all walked together. Brook had already begun composing his own lyrics to the Clockwork Child's song, and they were clearly about drinking.

I turned as I walked out and saw Zoro standing alone by the table where his swords lay. He put his hand on each one of them, looking at them in earnest.

"Zoro…?" I asked quietly.

His hand tightened on Sandai kitetsu. "Why does her damn dress look like the butterflies?" He asked, pain lighting his eyes as he looked up at me.

"I don't know—" I began.

Zoro cut me off. "They know everything!" he said passionately. "Somehow that goddamn snake saw her today…" he took his hand off the sword in resignation, running it through his hair. "I just want to keep her safe."

There was nothing I could say, but when he looked up at me I held his stare, angry and starvingly sad as it was.

"And you," he said. "You already look like you belong here."

That startled me and I took a step back. "What?" I asked.

"You're becoming Miss All Sunday again." Zoro came around the table, putting his hand on my back and leading me out of the tent so we would not fall too far behind. "That snake knows you aren't fooled. You're too smart for your own good, Robin!"

I looked at Zoro and saw his eyes wide, his teeth chattering between his lips. His hand tightened on the fabric of my dress as though he would tear it. "What do you mean?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

"Just let the circus be fun…!" He hissed through his teeth, his tongue almost flicking like the Bell-Viper's as he spoke.

Chills ran through me and I could not stop myself reaching out and slapping Zoro across the face hard. "Wake up, swordsman-san!" I said.

His face cleared and he took his hand off me instantly. With a little laugh, he shook his head and continued walking. "Jesus Christ…" he said, offering no further explanation.

Nami dropped back to talk to us. "You alright, Zoro?" She asked, tracing her hand down his forearm.

He smiled at her, actually taking her hand for a second. "I am now. You look beautiful, Nami."

Even in the twilight I could see her blushing. "What makes you say that?" She asked quietly. The jewels on her dress winked in the light from the tents and the bulbs dangling on poles between the tents.

"Life's short," Zoro said. "I could die at any moment and it would be a big damn shame if you didn't know I thought that before I died."

She stopped walking. I continued ahead but listened to their conversation.

"Zoro, you're scaring me," she said. "We're safe here, nothing here could kill us."

Ahead, the Clockie was still singing. "…they all ran after the farmer's wife and she cut off their tails with a carving knife. Three blind mice…"

* * *

_I almost thought of giving up once. I've grown older than dust in these tents, mold and rust and wood-rot keep company in my pores._

_I forgot what it was like to feel the sea, or blood in my veins. Sometimes at night I hear myself speaking and then I become afraid I may die. I can't forget what I've suffered, that makes everything bearable and if I lose my desire to kill…_

_No! Luffy deserves to die! I'm not old yet, and so very far from powerless. I am strong as the day I died and was born from phoenix-ash into fear. _

_All it takes is one puzzle piece to send it all tumbling down._

_Tomorrow, I think, the mirror maze will do._

_Now let the games begin._

* * *

The whole Avalon Circus had turned out for the performance. And the Bell-Viper had not exaggerated in our choice of dress. Everyone on the island was clothed as nicely as we were, though looking out at the crowd in the big top I could see clear divisions among the island's people. There were a race of porcelain-faced people who looked like Nila, and they were dressed to reflect an age gone past, the women in enormous bell-skirts, corsets, and low-necked dresses and the men sporting coats and bow ties that looked as though they were straight from Victoria's court. Multitudes of Tentmasters sat around them, all clothed in what appeared to be glorified rags. Their poverty was clear, but their conscious effort to hide it was, too. They were loud but dignified, shouting to friends and neighbors all over the tent. Along a wall nearest the door sat the gypsies, dressed in their beads and fine, sea-like lace. They were quiet and odd, and nearly all of them carried blades at their belts. Two other groups were strange, from places on the island we had yet to see. Interspersed with the Tentmasters and porcelain-faced rich were people with skin so dark they almost seemed to be part of the night. Their eyes were wide and bright blue, so in contrast to their skin that it was impossible to look away. Their women and men were angular of face and body, and the loose-fitting yellow, orange, and pink clothing they wore made them look mysterious and fascinating. Another group of pale people sat in front of the gypsies. Their clothing was all silk, embroidered with black or white trees, frogs, and flowers on colorful backgrounds. They wore no shoes on their feet, and many of the men carried paintbrushes behind their ears. They were speaking a different, clipped language than the rest of the people in the tent, but could apparently slip in and out of it easily as they engaged in conversation with the Tentmasters scattered among them.

The big top was easily the largest structure I had ever been in. Ten ships the size of the Merry could have fit end to end without trouble, and the ceiling was so high that some of the tallest tightropes and trapezes were left in shadow. Unlike most circuses, where multiple rings would have meant several performances at once, the Avalon Circus's big top had only one ring, and its massive, dusty surface was entirely empty. Our crew had the honor of sitting directly across from the gateway from which the performers would emerge. This put us directly in front. I sat beside Luffy—since I was the most adept at keeping him quiet—with Zoro on my other side and Nami beside him. Luffy was bouncing in his seat, pointing at various things and asking me all sorts of questions, all of which I did my best to answer quietly and with as much dignity as my lovingly childish captain's voice allowed.

Three Tentmasters behind us engaged he and I in conversation, and through them we learned that there hadn't been a performance or a visiting crew in over two years. When I asked where that crew had gone, the three women went quiet and told me they'd left. I sensed foreboding in their quiet voices, but dared to ask no more.

When the lights began to dim Luffy clapped his hands together and bounced excitedly. Franky, on Luffy's other side, reached across the seat and clapped his hand on the top of Luffy's head, keeping him still.

That performance, of all the things I saw and heard on the Avalon Circus or in my life, was without question the most stunning thing I have ever experienced. From the outset, it held us all enraptured and astounded, swept away in a magical, grotesque, and entirely unbelievable world of sensory enchantment.

Once the lights were out, everything went quiet. The whole island seemed trapped in a bubble of anticipation and wonderment. Not only did the people hush to the point of nonexistence, but every part of the universe paused. The sea made no noise, the wind outside quit its acrid hushing through the canvas tents, no bird or animal sang or cried anywhere on the island, or anywhere in the world it seemed. We were outside reality, in a parallel space that left us holding our breath.

It began with ticking, a deafening noise that crashed through my hypnosis and made me wonder if a bomb weren't about to explode somewhere nearby. But then a single light appeared, a wan spotlight shining from a light source directly above. The narrow beam revealed a tiny metal alarm clock sitting on a brightly colored stool in the middle of the enormous circus ring. It was the source of the enormous ticking, though how so small an object made such a penetrating sound, I was unsure.

For a few more seconds we hung suspended in the anticipation of centuries of audiences, waiting for the catch, the catalyst that would begin everything. I jumped, and heard many members of the audience gasp, when the alarm clock's ticking gave way to a shrill alarm bell's ringing. It jittered and twitched on its stool as though it were animate, but the noise was endless, endless…

The Bell-Viper's black-gloved left hand shot out of the dark and pinned the alarm clock down, stopping its monotonous ring with the force of his curling fingers. The spotlight did not widen as he stepped into it. He was once again wearing the purple and scarlet clothes we'd first seen him in, though they appeared to have been repaired, almost shined. His pale skin glowed with unearthly radiance as he stood beside the stool, his hand resting still on the alarm clock. In the way only a true showman can he held us on the edge of breathing, waiting for his next move as though it would decide the course of the rest of our lives.

When he opened his mouth, it was to sing. The words lifted heavily off his lips, but the clarity and strength in his voice told me instantly where he'd gotten his name. The song was one I had never heard before, though it stirred a longing for the sea deep within me, which I heard echoed in a sigh from Luffy.

"As I was a-walking one morning by chance;

I heard a maid making her moan,

I asked why she sighed, and she sadly replied

'Alas! I must live all alone, alone,

Alas! I must live all alone.'"

As he sang, the Bell-Viper picked up the alarm clock, still holding his finger over the hammer that sounded the alarm. He moved a step and exhaled onto his palm, sending a tiny flurry of dust up from it. Moments later, a second spotlight appeared far from him, at the far end of the ring. Nila hung suspended on a trapeze, one of her legs supporting her entire weight, while her body and arms dangled towards the ground. Her other leg was bent so far it nearly touched her head, creating an unearthly and beautiful frozen image out of her body. A sheer white, sequined leotard clung to her slender frame, and her gold hair tumbled in perfect ringlets like a waterfall around her face. All was silence again for a moment. She was still as a statue until the Viper began to sing again.

"I said, 'My fair maid, pray whence have you strayed?

And are you some distance from home?'

'My home,' replied she, 'is a burden to me,"

Nila had moved now and was twisting her body in intricate forms around the trapeze, hooking her legs around it and setting herself spinning upside down as she continued her aerial forms.

The Bell-Viper's voice continued to ring, as clearly as before and absolutely enchanting. "For there I must live all alone, alone,

For there I must live all alone."

He drew out the last word, adding a dramatic pause. Nila froze as though a terrible pain clutched her, pressing a hand to her chest. She sat on the trapeze as though it were a swing, and in the moment of quiet she surveyed the entire audience, her chest heaving in dramatized breath.

I joined in the collective gasp as the Bell-Viper put a knife into the heart of the tense silence, releasing his finger from the alarm. The harsh ringing elicited several screams, and the entire audience was horrified as Nila convulsed like the sound had dealt her a blow, and fell backwards off the trapeze. The light on her shut off before she had fallen a foot.

Now we were alone with the Bell-Viper again, and he allowed the clock to ring and ring before it ran its course and sat in his hand, weary and metallic. He looked up at us, putting a hand on the brim of his hat. "Good morning," he said.

The circus came to glorious life then. A lively calliope played by a small orchestra on one side of the ring set the awe-inspired mood as every light in the big top came on simultaneously. In one instant there were so many different and spectacular performances I was struck dumb. Luffy was doing his best to keep quiet, touching my arm and pointing at things to draw my attention. I needed no assistance from him. I was raptly attentive to the circus from the outset. The sheer volume of performers astounded me, and their acts made me speechless. Around the ring's edge were gypsy dancers, their exotic skin and long hair gloriously accentuated by deep green, coquettish costumes. They twirled and moved in perfect unison, adding low, husky voices to the calliope, deepening and enriching the timbre. Midnight-skinned fire-eaters and Tentmaster sword-swallowers paraded inside the ring, spewing blades and flames, enacting some sort of battle as they did. Animals, too, were lead in by serious-faced people in silk kimonos. The horses we'd seen struggled against reins glistering with rhinestones and riders of Nila's race, all blonde-haired and dressed in pink. Four of the big cats thundered around the ring's edge, almost out of their handlers' control, and collided in a fight that was only broken up as three handlers sprayed a red and sticky concoction in the cats' faces.

Tumblers, mostly gypsies, emerged in sensuous waves from the tunnel we sat directly across from. I recognized several faces from our brief trip into the gypsy camp. Men lifted women onto their heads, where they, on tiny feet, danced along with the other gypsies. Some stretched in impossible contortions, moving like water, without the hindrance of bone or muscle, through the throngs of people in the ring. Men, both of the gypsy and Tentmaster races, were juggling with indescribable precision and talent. Two large men even tossed three porcelain-skinned children back and forth between them. One child was caught and thrown straight up. A spotlight followed the tow-headed boy as he somersaulted vertically and was caught by Nila, who swung by on a trapeze. After two swings, she delivered him into the hands of a woman frozen on a tightrope. The boy's presence seemed to bring the woman to life and she bent to retrieve the child, placing him on a platform before stepping into the arms of a man standing on the same highwire. They began to waltz incredibly.

Again and again my breath was taken away at the indescribable ability of the performers. Amid the magnificence of the opening act, the Bell-Viper strode casually, dancing with a gypsy girl, deftly catching and returning a sword tossed to him by a juggler, facilitating the performers with his whip in his hand, more for show than anything, though he did crack it fiercely at a bull elephant that had escaped its master. The elephant trumpeted magnificently, waving curved tusks at the Belll-Viper. He stuck his hand out and spoke a loud word of command, cracking the whip again, and the elephant, though it struggled fiercely, was taken into custody again.

As the calliope wavered to a climax, the Bell-Viper stepped up on the stool where the alarm clock had rested and shouted above all the noise. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, distinguished Straw Hat Pirates and members of the Avalon Circus, I give you the largest and most spectacular show this circus has ever seen! Tonight we will play host to wonders and magnificence beyond comparison, magnificent feats to defy reality, and performances never to be repeated!" Almost unnoticed, the calliope had receded to a thin melody and the performers were dancing gracefully out the way they had come in. The Bell-Viper jumped down from the stool, his whip trailing him like it was actually a serpent's tail. "Illusions and mystery to delight your fancy! Oddities and freaks, monsters, demons. Keep on your toes, ladies and gentlemen, you never know what will be coming next!"

With that, the Bell-Viper vanished effortlessly in a puff of green smoke. In his place stood a beautiful dark-skinned girl, a long yellow dress covering her from neck to toes. She held a conch shell, and as the smoke disappeared, she blew into it, creating a low, thrumming pulse. Noises from the ring's edge echoed her, and the dirt actually vibrated. She blew the horn again, a higher note, and the sound of drums started to accompany her. From nowhere, the Bell-Viper's voice echoes throughout the tent "Ladies and gentlemen I give you the earthquake drummers!" he cried.

With that, the rhythm of the drums picked up, the dust around the ring moving so violently it was as though there really were an earthquake starting. And then they appeared. More of the midnight-skinned people were suddenly pushing their way into the ring from out of the ground itself, striking gigantic drums with arms that seemed made of the ground itself. I gasped at the wonder of it, the magnificence of the people actually removing themselves from the crust of the earth, oozing onto the surface like candle wax. The girl blew her conch shell and set the drummers a new beat to which she began to dance.

In the way of a circus one act effortlessly followed another and within minutes of watching the unbelievably talented drummers emerge from the earth, three of the winged horses with women standing on their backs galloped out of the tunnel across from us. As they entered the big top their riders dropped to sitting and kicked their mounts in the side. This spurred the horses to run straight at us, and when they took off it was so close to our crews' heads that we could feel the wind from the hoofs. The drums, accompanied now by the circus's musicians, belted out a melody that bespoke daring. The women on their horses indeed seemed fearless. The first, a girl who looked like Nila only with fiery red hair, stood and somersaulted from her horse's back when the animal was at least fifty feet in the air. We held our breath as she spiraled towards the ground. She was saved by one of the other riders, who made a similar leap but caught herself on a trapeze, where she hung upside down. The two women swung, joined shortly by the third on a different trapeze. Their synchronous movement was accompanied by that of their horses, who circled the tent's edge in different formations, joined shortly by five more of their bretheren and five more similar women, all clothed in pink like their sisters on the trapezes. The Bell-Viper appeared as instantaneously as he had disappeared "The lovely Nila and the tumblers of the Diamond-eye race with their Leatherback horses gathered from a distant shore. Watch your step, girls!" The Viper shouted as the remaining riders tossed themselves fearlessly from their horses. Three added to the now swinging pattern on the trapeze but two caught themselves in winding bands of silk dangling from the ceiling, around which they twisted and moved in time to the music.

All through the performance, the energy and liveliness continued to increase. I'd forgotten myself in it, the tumult replaced a heartbeat, the beat of the drums a need to see. Nila and the Bell-Viper played off one another throughout the acts, she emerging to accompany nearly every act. Her languid movement clearly haunted the Viper, and as the performance progressed he snapped the whip more fervently. The big cats returned and were actually pitted against each other, with their silk-clothed handlers riding on their backs. The Bell-Viper was left to face one, and I watched in horror as he subdued the thing with only his whip. As it charged him, he held his left hand to his lips and casually removed the fingerless glove with his teeth. The cat was only feet away when he threw his hand up, shouting a word that sent the animal skidding back in a spray of red sparks, howling in rage.

Strong men and fire-eaters and sword-swallowers of all races astounded us with their feats, and, as the Bell-Viper promised there were a collection of disfigured freaks, all Tentmasters, put on grim parade around the ring's edge. The audience booed them, and I was horrified to hear my crew and myself joining in the taunting with riled shouts. It made me wake up, and I watched the rest of the performance, a magnificent display by the gypsy dancers, from a distance, now actually aware of what I was seeing.

But the terror didn't return for me until the final few minutes. I could have forgotten where I was, been lost in a lustrous imagining of performers and animals and the Bell-Viper's sweet, sing-song voice for the rest of my life. But in the end, the ring was mysteriously, ominously empty, with only the Viper standing at its center and Nila, now in green, on a trapeze a few yards from the ground.

He extended his powerful left hand to the audience, spinning in a full circle as though showing everyone the oddly glowing tattoo on his pale skin. I was close enough to notice that the tent's grin had changed to an exaggerated frown. He paused on our crew, looking each of us in the eyes. Even Luffy made no noise, frozen in a sort of wonderment. "Now, Straw Hat Pirates," he said musically, "you will see this circus's true power!" His eyes went that odd dark color and the scales all over him flashed to the surface of his skin. The teeth elongated and the tongue seemed to sharpen. In the center of the ring, his arm shot skyward, the hand flexed, palm to the tent's ceiling.

The rumbling was subtle, more like a purring from the ground and sky and atmosphere than anything. I thought it could be the earthquake drummers again, but the pervasive thrum was more feeling than sound, and dreadfully ominous. The Viper had moved to the side of the ring nearest our crew and stood with his back to us, holding his top hat in front of him. The merry go round horse around his neck was vibrating fiercely. In the ring's center a tiny hole appeared. The dirt receded as though some switch had been thrown and out of the hole rose a tent. Perhaps a three feet across and perfectly circular it sat in the middle of the ring, a miniscule calliope emanating from it. Screams echoed from inside it, chilling screams in a high-pitched female voice. They ripped through my composure and I found myself clutching Luffy's hand. The pressure with which he returned my grip told me that, horribly, Luffy was as scared as I was.

A tiny figure erupted from the tent. It was a Clockwork Child, smaller than the others, with its head tilted awfully back into the singing position, the gargantuan mouth stretching beyond logic's allowance, almost fleshy lips parted. The screams were emanating from the thing and as it ran, the cause became clear. Fire was licking at the bottom of the tiny tent, the flames animate and eating while the Clockie tottered in horrible circles around and around. "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home!" It cried in a chillingly human voice, "your house is on fire and your children all alone!" As it finished singing, three sets of pitiful shrieks ripped through the air from the tent.

"Mama, mama!" They called, barely coherent.

The tent was growing. Now large enough that Chopper with his hat on could have stood upright inside, the flames spreading and distorting its shape, bending one side into the weird frowning face that the Bell-Viper had tattooed on his hand. As it bubbled and oozed upward, it began to take on a shape, the fabric spreading into a narrow, waspish face complete with two swallowingly empty eyes and hands that reached out to either side, awful fingers congealed and twisted around themselves, dreadfully mimicking the roots of the animal trees. It looked like a man was standing beneath the fabric, as though he built himself of the miniature tent but struggled for freedom, his long arms tearing at themselves. Legs shaped themselves and a toothless smile spread wide on the noseless face. The shrieks had not stopped.

The Bell-Viper had his hand on his whip as the circus monster turned towards him. He took three authoritative steps forward. "Funhouse!" He said loudly.

The thing's head twisted all the way around on its narrow shoulders, the grin still firmly in place. It spoke without speaking, without moving its lips or eyes _ringmaster! You woke me up…_

"There's a job for you, Funhouse! Send me the magician Lustre."

The Funhouse cocked its head, righting its body to face the Bell-Viper. I could see the entirety of the thing as it grew still taller and ever thinner, as though its bones really were tent-poles. _Yes_ it replied. Stilling the fingers on one of its long arms it reached awfully down its own throat, bending and convulsing, pulling ever more of the fabric of its own body down the hole at its center. There were no feet underneath the fabric. Suddenly the thing's hand froze and withdrew, holding a green ball like the one the Bel-Viper had extracted from Franky earlier that day. Funhouse tossed it to the ground and without explosion or illusion a man stood where it fell.

He had no eyes. They had been covered by skin, as had his ears and most of his nose. He was short, taller than a Clockie but far shorter than the Bell-Viper. His lips were red and he licked them often. He was wearing all black and walked with a limp on his left side.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the Bell-Viper called, "in this circus's greatest performance in history, the magician Lustre will now complete a trick so complex, so astounding, that no description can be offered of it! Simply watch, ladies and gentlemen, and be amazed!" The Viper's eyes met mine cunningly.

I felt more than heard a voice inside my head. _Are you watching closely?_

"Yes…" I breathed.

The calliope began again as five clowns emerged toting a large sack from the dark tunnel where the performers hid. They were grotesque, white faces and disheveled brightly-colored wigs, all with large red-rimmed smiles and black circles around their eyes. They walked in the way of animals, crouched and low, and all laughed quietly as they moved. None of them blinked.

One, in horrid pantomime, lifted his harlequin pattern shirt and unzipped a zipper that ran straight from his belly to his throat. Red insides pulsed and steamed as he pulled a table from inside himself. Members of the audience laughed. Beside me, I heard Zoro gasp, though Nami laughed along with the people of the Circus.

The clown tottered and fell to the ground, the other four silently ran around him, tittering their strange little laughs and setting up the table quickly. One was horridly impaled as three ran the table into place in front of Lustre and the Funhouse.

_Are you watching?_

"Yes…!"

The remaining three clowns set the cloth sack on the table and skittered a few feet away. They dragged their dead comrades with them, pulling the impaled one's body through the table leg, leaving awful chunks of his flesh there. In the corner they set to what looked like feasting on their dead.

At the table, Lustre was standing with Funhouse just behind him. The sack remained closed. Lustre conjured a bird, blowing on thin air to make it appear then wringing its neck with a sickening crack. Waving his hand over it with a snap, he turned the bird into a kitchen knife. It curled grotesquely in his hand as Funhouse bent over him, guiding his hand to the sack's top.

"Behold!" the Viper shouted. "Lustre, with the aid of The Funhouse, will bestow human life on an inhuman thing!"

Three more clowns appeared with a second table. Strapped to this one was a gypsy boy of about fourteen, his hands and feet tied to each corner of the table and his mouth stuffed full of brightly-colored cloth. His face was beaten, nose bloody and one eye black as though he'd struggled against captivity. The clowns stared weirdly down at him, pushing the metal table up beside the other. As the three of them neared, Funhouse directed Lustre's knife directly into one's eye. The thing shrieked in pain, but the other two set upon it instantly, dragging the thrashing body only inches before they set in to feast. Noises of dying echoed horribly in the tent where the audience of the Avalon Circus's people cheered, anticipating the brilliance of the trick.

Lustre held high the now bloody knife and sliced open the sack. The crowd roared and I held my breath as he ripped the sacking off the thing's face. It was a bird's head half-sewed to a human body. The bottom half of the body was a squid's tentacles, but two cloven hooves emerged from the middle where the beak should have been. It was horrifying, like a monster from an old story come to life.

Funhouse guided Lustre, who was laughing and sniffing around eyelessly, to the table where the gypsy boy struggled. The brightly colored fabric could not disguise the boy's screams, could not stop his protest as the curled knife came down on his forehead directly between the eyes. Frozen, the boy did not move as the blade traced a perfectly straight line from the top of his brow down his face, slicing his nose cleanly in half and disfiguring his lips with blood. The blade did not pause at the chin or collarbone, continuing down the ribcage to just above the navel, where it finally stopped. Funhouse sniffed, its gigantic, depraved eyes sucking into its face. Lustre was licking his lips, his face moving closer and closer to the boy's trembling body.

_See me make him squirm…?_

"Yes…!"

With a cry of glory, Funhouse drove Lustre's hand down. The boy's blood boiled almost black and his sharp-toothed mouth opened around the fabric in a cry of sheer agony. The blade ripped back up the way it had come, stopping just below the boy's throat. Without pause, Funhouse took its hands off Lustre, allowing the half-man to dig his whole face into the boy's stomach.

Red-black blood erupted in a vicious fountain and the crowd cheered, many on their feet. Lustre crawled deeper inside the screaming boy, his whole hand and shoulders now inside the cavernous hull of the boy's entrails. His eyes had gone wide, tears streaming down his cheeks as they turned black with the blood in them. The shape of the magician could be seen moving up the boy's body, tearing the young gypsy's flesh and breaking his ribs from inside. Suddenly Lustre surged upwards, effectively tearing the boy's body in half as he went. The young gypsy gave one more scream, vomiting up the cloth in his mouth and all the contents of his stomach, before subsiding into twitching and pulsing convulsions. The blood was everywhere, scattered over the two tables and covering Lustre in a glorious sheen. The magician was smiling wickedly, mumbling to himself and licking chunks of bone, flesh, and refuse off his face. In one hand he held the boy's pumping heart, in the other a giant black cockroach, at least six inches long.

Funhouse pushed the dead gypsy boy out of the way, leading Lustre straight at the bird-thing, where he forced the magician's hands down the throat. The heart vanished and the twitching cockroach crawled of its own accord to the human belly, where it used enormous pincers to carve a quick hole, burrowing into the body's flesh. The magician pulled his pus-covered and bloody hand from the bird throat and pressed it down on the chest. "Live!" He shouted. Pounding two open hands, with Funhouse's cloth palms on top of them, down on the thing's chest and stomach, he shouted in desperate agony as the thing convulsed, bending in half at the waist. It sat up and shrieked, the voice half hawk cry and half human gasp. There was enormous rage in the black eyes as it turned on Lustre, snapping the sharp edges of its beak down into the space where Lustre's eyes should have been. Green ooze erupted from the magician's face and he fell forward into the bird. Its beak's sharp points came through the back of his head and as the bird snapped its beak shut his head was cut in half. The brain pulsed wet and grey as Lustre collapsed, leaving the bird-thing alone with Funhouse.

_Bloody, bloody blood! Save the brains for last, they're best. Save them for me…?_

"Yes…!"

Struggling to stand on its squid limbs, the bird-man toppled from the table towards Funhouse. The tent monster had grown imperceptibly, now towering over eight feet tall. A slouched stature and abnormally long neck made him look unearthly, as did the arms that were now so long they dragged on the ground at its sides.

The Bell-Viper had retreated to the ring's edge, but he now stepped out to the ring's center, beside Funhouse. "You see, ladies and gentlemen, this creature has been given life!" The audience erupted into spectacular shouts as the newly-made monster righted itself and shrieked again, flapping its arms like it thought they were wings. The Viper gestured to Funhouse, who glanced down at him hungrily as it bowed to the enormous applause that greeted it.

The Viper turned to our crew, extending his hands to us. His pants were soaked to the knees with the blood of the dead clowns and the gypsy boy. "Straw Hat Pirates, for you we have created life, and now for you we must take it away!"

The Viper whipped around, his hand extended to Funhouse. The monster shrieked in delight and set upon the remaining clowns. The first it slaughtered with four fingers through the face, turning its palm around and extracting the clown's skull from his face. Two more Funhouse beheaded with hands that sharpened into blades, and the last he fell upon with that ravenously open mouth, swallowing the clown whole. Funhouse tilted its head back and screamed magnificently, the sound ripping through the center of the world. I was sure they heard it in every place on the Grand Line. It was the sound in the back of your mind while you're dreaming, the noise you're most afraid of hearing when you walk down the hallway past the dark, open door and think you see a face, the noise every soldier knows is waiting for him when he dies and the deepest fear of every human being. As it screamed, Funhouse imploded back into the tiny tent it had come into being as. The form was small and blood-soaked, but still perfect and now tiny, harmless. A little light glistened from inside it and the perfectly hypnotic calliope emanated like a pleasant stink from it. The bodies all around could have been mountains in comparison to the tiny, innocent canvas tent. It could not have hurt anyone, not that picture of petite innocence. The blood-spatters were an accident, the bodies had nothing to do with Funhouse. The Bell-Viper stepped up to the tent, surveying the bodies as though he, too, were surprised they were there. Casually, he kicked the clown's skull, still fill of brain and blood. He moved up to the struggling creature, which was still attempting to walk on the too-small feet. With a click of his tongue, the Bell-Viper took the whip from around his belt and lashed the thing. The whip caught around its throat and it almost instantly strangled, leaking blood onto the floor along with the dozen other bodies that would never breathe again.

"Good night," the Bell-Viper said.

All the lights shut off.

* * *

_Bloody, bloody blood, blood!_

_Bloody, bloody blood, blood!_

_Bloody blood and fire flame_

_burn the bodies take the blame!_

_Bloody blood and mortals dead_

_never sleep again! _

_Haunt the dreams behind your eyes_

_where out's the same as in!_

* * *

The audience erupted into magnificent applause, everyone instantly leaping to their feet. I sat in horrified silence, apart from the applause and fervor of the Circus's citizens. Luffy released my hand as he jumped to his feet to clap, and the sensation in my hand told me I'd lost all circulation there long ago. I sat numb and terrified and empty as around me everyone else applauded fervently. Almost everyone. Franky remained seated, clutching the armrests on his seat so tightly they had snapped off in his hands. And Zoro, beside me, was shaking so badly I could feel his arm against mine. Turning to look at him, I could see him sobbing in his seat. Beside him, Nami had leaped to her feet and did not see him turn to me, shake his head.

Confused at the crew's fervor and wickedly drawn to the carnage that was still present onstage, I turned back to the ring. The Bell-Viper had taken off his hat and was turning slowly, bowing to all sides of the ring. He gestured to the high wires, to the performers' tunnel, and to the circus's band, and the audience applauded more, whistles and shouts accompanying it. After minutes of applause, the lights in the tent began to dim and people filed out, all chatter and excitement, children bouncing up and down extatically, recounting the performance already.

Because we were so near the front we milled about, waiting for our chance to exit. We were close enough to see the Bell-Viper look down at the bodies in disgust. The Funhouse had vanished without a trace. The Viper walked a few feet away, bloody footprints in his wake. "Burn it," he said to the merry go round horse around his neck.

The theatre was more than half empty when a man appeared from the performers tunnel, undoubtedly to follow the Bell-Viper's order. As he drew closer, I cocked my head. There was no way…

Beside me, Luffy gasped and leaned forward into the ring, his voice a cry more full of deep longing than I have ever heard. "Ace!" he shouted.

The man looked up, his face a mask of terror. The familiar face broke my heart, and the rest of the crew was shouting at him as well, desperately looking for ways down into the ring to reach him. Luffy vaulted over the wall keeping us from the ring and ran straight at his brother. Ace caught him in an embrace, but he did not hold Luffy tightly. His eyes remained open and stunned, his face frozen in an expression of pity and pain.

The rest of the crew had found a way down into the ring, and everyone had run to see the man they all thought had been dead for years. But I stood petrified, looking Ace up and down. He was pale and small in the ring, and the Funhouse stood glittering at his feet, tinny calliope still humming a soothing melody.

"Oh God, Ace!" Luffy sobbed into his brother's shoulder. "My brother…"

Ace's countenance fell into tears and he wept bitterly, now clinging to Luffy as Luffy was clinging to him. The blood stained Luffy and Ace's feet and had spattered all over the rest of the crew as they stepped haphazardly through and around the bodies to reach Ace and Luffy.

"Oh Luffy…" Ace said desperately, pulling away from his brother long enough to look him in the eyes. "What have you done…!" Luffy pulled his brother close again, but I followed Ace's eyes to where the ringmaster stood, the last one left in the tent aside from us and the bodies.

In the shadows at the ring's edge the Bell-Viper stood quietly smiling.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys! You all have been shirking your reviewing duties, much to my great and terrible sadness. I swear the universe will bestow cupcakes upon you if you review this chapter, because the universe loves reviews. Bet you didn't' know that, did you! Well, tis' true!

Also, if any of you happen to like drawing, I'd be curious to see any art for this fanfic! I think fanart is fun, and I'm sure just about everyone who reads this can draw better than I can!

I had never known Luffy to cry. And Ace looked even less the sort. But standing in the circus ring, among the carnage and blood, their sobs almost echoed in the dimming vastness of the big top. Funhouse, its little calliope still playing, slowly sank back through the floor. The rest of the crew milled around, astounded to see their comrade back from the dead. None of them seemed to notice the enormous scar, barely healed, that went all the way through his chest and back. The haunting images I'd seen on the television after Ace's murder plagued and disturbed me. I played the scene over and over again, trying to imagine how he had managed to survive.

Noiselessly, the Bell-Viper came to stand behind me. I did not notice him until he spoke.

"You look beautiful, Nico Robin," he said.

I whipped around, startled, my eyes boring into the Viper. "You're a monster," I hissed through my teeth.

He drew back a step, looking wounded. "What makes you say that?" he asked innocently, giving me a wicked smile.

I turned fully to face him, taking off my long gloves as I did. "What was that?" I gestured at the ring.

A quiet smile lingered on his pointed teeth, but the snake-green stayed out of his scales. "I see Funhouse doesn't effect you like the others." He stepped close to me, reaching out to touch my cheek. His hand was cold and I raised a hand to hit him, but he caught my arm, locking me there.

"Let us go," I challenged.

"No," he replied casually.

"We're stronger than you!"

"No," he hissed, "you're not." He pulled me close, pinning my arm behind me and digging his nails into my neck. I struggled, but froze as he whispered in my ear. "You're all going to die here!" He pulled back a little. "Now, don't you want to say hello to your captain's brother?"

I backed away. "Go to hell!" I said through my teeth.

He spread his arms wide. "We're both already there!" He smiled as I turned desperately to see if my nakama had heard. "They won't believe you, you know."

I did not give him the satisfaction of turning to look at him as I spoke, "Swordsman-san and shipwright-san do."

The Bell-Viper put a cold, lithe hand into my hair. "They're loose ends, love. Funhouse doesn't let loose ends away for long. It prefers to tie things tight."

I snapped my head around, boring straight into his eyes with mine. My reflection didn't show in either of them. "I'm going to get us out. Your circus games mean nothing to me."

He adjusted his hat and checked the watch in his pocket. "I don't think your captain would want to leave, now that he's found his brother…"

I opened my mouth to reply but The Viper turned, faster than I could think, and vanished through a side door out of the big top.

I turned sharply to the ring, raging at my powerlessness and the ignorance of my nakama to the urgency of the situation. I glared out into the ring where Luffy and Ace still held one another, both crying.

"You don't seem happy to see Ace," Franky said. He was leaning on the edge of the ring and gestured to Ace as he spoke.

"That's because he's dead," I replied. Without another word I turned and stalked from the tent, the same way the Bell-Viper had.

* * *

_This I do, being mad: _

_ I sit in a circle of beads and I_

_ think of how they look like the blood in my veins and I_

_wonder if Hindu gods die the same as Catholic gods die the same as Chinese gods die the same as me?_

_I wonder what you'll think, when you die._

* * *

The landscape of the Avalon Circus held no horror for me. The tents seemed gigantic toads in the moonlight, their rustling the sound of hushing mothers in the dark. Step by step, in the gold heels that accompanied the dress I'd been given, I walked back the way we had come towards the big top. Or what I thought was the way.

It was at least an hour before I admitted I was lost. The night had only grown blacker, no hint of an approaching dawn. Angry, I came to one of the ball-like street lamps and stood beneath it, feeling safer in the light. I pressed its pole against my back and sank down to sit, my feet pinching oddly from the shoes. I took them off and tossed them into the dirt beside me, enjoying the force the movement allowed. _You're all going to die here_. The Bell-Viper's voice echoed eerily in my mind. I put my head in my hands. For the first time I allowed myself to think of that, of all my crewmates dead. Chopper's innocent smile spattered away by gunshot, Nami's bright, robust laugh turned to a scream by a knife to the stomach, Luffy's straw hat the token of a dead man after his beheading.

At some point, I slipped into dreaming, and as the hour got later and later, I became unaware that the streetlight under which I sat went out, along with all the other lights on the island.

* * *

In the dream, I was standing on a beach. Grey and endless, expansive to the point of massiveness. There was no water, but I could hear gulls crying from somewhere close. My body began to move without my consent, to take rigid and robotic steps towards the shade of a mountain I could see growing on the horizon. At some point, I heard breathing behind me. I stopped and the breather's steps mimicked mine exactly. There was no hint of a follower except the inhale and exhale, and the sound of a tongue licking fleshy lips. I could not turn, and the respiration followed closer and closer behind as I picked up speed. It was my own breath but horribly removed, like if I turned I would see my own lungs and mouth hanging behind me.

Though I ran for what seemed like miles, the mountain grew no closer. I stopped, winded and with bloody feet from the beach's sharp, keen rocks. The noise of the disembodied breathing behind me became unbearable and I screamed against it. "Stop it!" I yelled. "Just die!"

Silence.

Then, "three blind mice…three blind mice"

"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,"

"Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home,"

"All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel,"

"Alas! I must live all alone, alone…"

The low cacophony of clockwork voices sang in time with the inhale and exhale of the breathing behind me, accentuated by that awful, fleshy noise of tongue on lips and teeth. I had stopped, petrified in terror as the voices multiplied. And, in defiance of the rules of sound and space, as the verses became more frequent, the unseen mouths saying them more numerous, the sound quieted to a low thrum, pulsating and ominous as heartbeat.

A scream whipped across the landscape, silencing the voices instantly. I felt it like a force, and felt my muscles released. I tore across the beach away from the epicenter of the sound, which was behind me. It devolved into crying, a horrible sob.

"ROBIN!" Someone shouted. I recognized Franky's voice, though it was mangled by terror, higher and nastier than I had ever heard it. My legs froze. Franky was standing on the beach before me, his mouth open wide, jaw hanging limp. His eyes had been gouged out and he dangled as though by a marionette pole, arms outstretched and legs bent awkwardly at the knees. He was swaying and almost waltz-stepping towards me without moving any of his limbs, an awful force pulling him along. I tried to run, terrified of what would happen when he touched me. But the breathing, licking sound behind me was right in both ears, holding me shutter-still. Franky stopped a few feet away and whatever dreadful cord held him up snapped. He fell to the ground and I heard the crunch of breaking bones. Behind him was the sea that had been obscured for the entire dream. It was grey and cold, without waves and obscured almost entirely by low mist.

_We came far, far, far. _

"Funhouse?" I asked. A small figure appeared on the beach, knee-deep in the water facing away from me.

There was no reply. I took cautious steps towards the figure in the water, all the while listening for the rasping breathing that had followed me. Without it the beach was wrenching, awful, and quiet. Quiet like dread, like stillborn babies. The figure did not grow as I neared it, like it was devoid of space.

_Ring around the rosey, _

_ pocket full of posey_…

I drew closer to the bent figure in the water. It was hunched and small, no bigger than a child. "Where did you learn these songs, Funhouse?" I asked, my voice quavering.

_The itsy, bitsy spider ran up the water spout,_

_ down came the rain and washed the spider out…_

The figure was just at my feet. The neutral-cold of the water soaked me to my knees, fanning the red dress I still wore in my dream out like a jellyfish-cloud around me. It rocked back and forth, a human shape with its arms clutched around itself, face buried in its knees. I reached out a hand to touch the figure's shoulder.

_Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor_

_ Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief…_

The thing offered no resistance as I turned it over. It fell limp in the water and Luffy's face, toothless, bloody, and wide-eyed, smiling like the devil, stared up at me. Imprinted perfectly on his forehead was the same darkly smiling tattoo the Bell-Viper had on his palm. And that mouth was open and laughing. Laughing with teeth.

* * *

I startled awake, immediately turning on my side and vomiting. My stomach heaved heavily and a scream immediately followed, sobs wrenching my ribcage apart.

"Ma! She's awake!" I heard a voice shout.

I found that I was no longer beneath the streetlamp where I had first fallen asleep. I fell onto my back and, through eyes blurred by terror and tears, saw a ceiling made of earth, dimly lit by some kind of candle to my left._ Oh, oh they've buried me deep. Luffy will never know, never know._ I thought

"Dearie, can you hear me?" The woman's voice was comforting and strong, bringing me back to earth.

_No, no, no. There's no getting out, not any chance!_

"Robin?" The voice came again.

Instantly I sat bolt upright, grabbing the woman's throat. "How do you know my name?"

Her flushed and motherly cheeks turned pale at my fingers' pressure. Her portly, motherly face, framed by a Tentmaster's red hair, was frozen in fear.

Instantly I let her go. "Oh, God…" dizziness struck me and I fell back onto the bed, crying.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know…"

I pressed my hands over my eyes, sheltering myself in the darkness between my palm and my cheek. "We're all going to die…!" Tears stung my hands salty, dripping to my lips.

The woman put her hand on my forehead, and in the dark I imagined my own mother's hand, blown to shreds with the rest of Ohara years ago. The tears fell harder and I imagined Zoro and Nami dead in the same way, clutching each other's hands.

"Hush, hush dearie. It was only a dream."

"The Viper said it was true!" I cried.

I heard the sound of water running and moments later a cup was being held to my lips. "The Viper is evil. He knows nothing."

I opened my mouth to the water, and the cold sensation of it down my throat comforted me and destroyed the last traces of my nightmare. I opened my eyes and looked at the woman who was smiling kindly down at me. "Who are you?" I asked when she had taken the now empty cup away.

"I'm Amelia. You're safe here, don't try to move!" she said as I struggled to sit again. Her strong hands were on my shoulders and she pulled a blanket up to my chin.

"Where am I?" I asked as bubbles swam into my vision.

"The underground. The city of Tentmasters." she replied.

"Mama?" A little girl's voice called.

Amelia turned. "Rose, sweetheart, what is it?" A large-eyed and red-haired child appeared over Amelia's shoulder, leaning on her mother.

"Is the pretty lady going to be okay?" the little girl whispered.

Her mother smiled at her. "Of course she will." Amelia turned to me. "This is my daughter, Rose."

I looked up at the girl, who bore no resemblance to Amelia. "Hello," I said. "I'm Robin."

The girl laughed a little, and in her smile I could see traces of her mother. Amelia looked at her sadly. "That's a funny name," Rose said.

Her mother shushed her, patting her sharply on the head. "Be nice, Rose."

The girl put her hands on her hips and pouted prettily. "A robin is a bird. People and birds don't have the same names."

I could not help smiling at that. Amelia sent Rose away with a little pat on the back. The girl returned to a desk a few feet away, where she was drawing with a large pencil.

"I'm sorry," Amelia said, returning to me.

"Amelia, how long have I been here?" I asked.

"Just a few hours, love," Amelia said.

Silence lingered between us as I succumbed to dizziness again, my head reeling and forcing me to close my eyes. Rose was humming a little tune in the corner and I heard Amelia stand. Light flooded over my eyelids and when I opened them I could see more of the room, clearly a living room of some sort of larger house. I was laying on a small couch beside a table with a gas lamp and several books. A fireplace burned quietly in a shallow hearth and four chairs sat around a larger table. A kitchen was visible through a dirt wall, and quaint, patterned rugs lay on the floor, keeping most of the heavily packed earth out.

Amelia turned to speak to me again, but before she could the door opened. From the tunnel-dark emerged a curly-haired man, tall and lithely built. His eyes were darker blue than the other Tentmasters', but his lineage was clear nonetheless.

Rose leaped from her seat. "Daddy!" she shouted.

The man dropped a heavy bag from his shoulders and bent to receive his daughter as he kicked the door closed behind him. "How's my flower doing?" he said, spinning in circles with his child in his arms. It was clear that Rose took after her father, who had the same heart-shaped face and curly hair. "Hello, lovely," he said to Amelia, bending a few inches to kiss her nose. She laughed and kissed him back while Rose made a disgusted face.

"Thanks for shutting the door in my face, dad," a boy's voice said as he opened the door from the tunnel into the well-lit home. He was about sixteen and carried a bag similar to his father's, which he kicked into the corner as he entered.

"Eh, you survived," the boy's father said, blowing in Rose's face and making her laugh. Amelia went to the boy, clearly her son, and took a thick coat from his shoulders, kissing him on the head and hanging the coat by the door.

I felt alone, separated, and suddenly remembered the nine members of my crew who I hadn't seen in hours. I sat up instantly, ignoring the crushing pain in my head, and threw the blanket off.

Instantly, Amelia's husband was upon me, pinning me to the bed with a strong hand on my throat, the other reaching for a curved knife. The cold malice in his blue eyes made me cry out in fear.

"No!" Amelia screamed. "Rowan, stop!" She appeared at her husband's side, grabbing hold of his arm.

He took his hand off my throat and backed away, gathering his wife and children with him. "Amelia, do you know who that is?" he asked, grabbing his wife's shoulders and looking her in the face.

She shook her head, holding Rose's hand. "She said her name was—"

"Don't say it!" Rowan said, putting his hand gently on his wife's mouth. She looked scared and, with regret in his eyes, Rowan gathered Amelia into his arms, pressing her body into his. "I'm sorry, Ami."

I caught the pained look in Amelia's face, but she relaxed into her husband's arms. The children stood staring at me in the unquestioning way children had. Rose's brother stood behind her with his arms on her shoulders, clearly ready to run or protect her.

"Daland," Rowan said. The boy's head snapped around to look at his father. "Take your sister into the study, if you will." Daland looked insulted. With a smile, his father continued. "You can look at my maps, the big leather book with the whole Grand Line in it."

Daland's face lit up and he scooped up Rose, exiting through a door on the far side of the fireplace. "Come on, Rose," he said as she protested noisily. "I'll show you all the places we'll go when we're pirates!"

Rose's face lit up and she kicked her feet joyfully in her brother's grip.

With the children gone, tension was all that remained. I lay on the bed, still reeling with dizziness. Across from me, Amelia's soft face and Rowan's hard one looked on with conflicting looks of worry and rage.

"How did you get here, Straw Hat?" Rowan asked, pulling a chair close to my bed. Amelia followed suit and sat by my head, stroking my still braided hair.

"She fell asleep under a streetlamp and they were un-lighting them. I couldn't let the Clockies get her," Amelia said, looking Rowan in the eyes.

"I know that, Amelia. I heard you bring her in." He shook his head, turning the two blue orbs of his eyes on me. "What I meant was, how did you and your crew land on the Circus?"

Amelia gasped, taking her hand off my forehead and wiping it on her apron. "You're a pirate?" she exclaimed.

I ignored Amelia's disgusted tone, looking at Rowan. "We were caught in a storm. Our Log Pose broke."

Rowan nodded starnly, turning to the closed tunnel door as an awful slithering sound went by outside.

"Where's the rest of my crew?" I asked.

Rowan guffawed. "Dead, if they're lucky!" he said.

"Don't talk like that!" I challenged.

He ignored me. "It seems you're immune to Funhouse, and to the Viper as well." He looked me up and down, as though I were an insect.

"Is that a good thing?" Amelia asked.

Rowan considered me evenly. My dark eyes seemed to absorb some of his light. "Hopefully. Have you managed to convince any of them?"

I sighed, giving up asking questions that neither Rowan nor Amelia seemed willing to answer. "Just one, I think."

Rowan looked away. "Then he'll be the first to die."

Fear and adrenaline shot through me. The memory of Franky's gouged and puppet-hung body in my nightmare threatened to make me sick again. "No!" I said, stitting upright again. The dizziness made me put my head in my hands to shut myself in the dark.

Rowan gasped. "How long have you been feeling this way?" he asked.

"Since I woke up," I choked, trying not to be sick again.

"Amelia, was she talking in her sleep?"

"Yes," Amelia replied, "and her eyes were open, too."

Before I could protest, Rowan had jerked my head from its shelter, holding my chin firmly and looking deeply into my face. I was frozen in terror, his grip was easily strong enough to break my jaw. "Tell me your name!" he said fiercely.

Startled, I struggled to form the sound. It was several terrifying seconds while I groped in the darkness of my own mind to search out the sound of my name. "It's…" I remembered the Bell-Viper's smirk as he'd said it earlier that day. His mouth moved in my mind, but no sound came out. Amelia's daughter had said it, the name of some sort of bird…? "Robin!" I said with relief.

Rowan sighed, pressing the heel of his other hand against my forehead as though feeling for fever. "Robin." he said forcefully. I felt my head begin to reel as my body tried to pull away from him. "Robin!" he said more forcefully.

I found an animalistic need to kill and lashed out at Rowan, my teeth seeking his arms, my hands his eyes.

"Robin-san, Straw Hat Pirate and sailor of the high seas, defender of Luffy-san and resister of the Avalon Circus."

My eyes rolled back in my head and my entire body went rigid. Nami and Zoro's faces, pressed close together before the performance, flashed through my head. Chopper's laugh as he'd been tossed into the air earlier that day. Usopp pocketing Franky's flask. Brook's lighthearted song that afternoon making everything on the circus feel perfect. The Merry's moments of strange consciousness, her unfailing desire to protect all of us. Sanji's dapper smile, the hilarious nosebleeds and intent to kiss Nami and I. And Luffy standing on deck smiling at me, calling me "nakama" for the first time, absolving me of my sins as Miss All Sunday. The faces came in succession along with our entire journey, the suffering and joy and battle and peace, the constant laughter and drinking and new adventure. I gasped, seeing my own form standing beside them as though from someone else's eyes. Suddenly I was back in my own head. The dizziness and ringing in my ears were gone but I was thrown back by an intense force that racked through my entire body, tearing like it was coming out of my bones.

Rowan did not move his hands from my forehead. "Robin." he said one more time.

With a desperate cry, I felt a pain like my tongue being ripped from my mouth. Then the anger was gone, the dizzy pain and the restriction I had felt while trying to say my own name. Eyes wide, I looked up at Rowan. In his hand he held a grotesquely large cockroach, struggling and pulsing in its brown-black carapace. I could not even scream, only a whimper escaped my lips and I subsided to crying again.

Amelia fell back out of her chair and stood, backing away against the wall with a hand against her lips, clearly trying to stay quiet for her children's sakes.

Rowan stood with the cockroach and ran to the fire in the hearth, where he threw the thing and hit it time and again with a steel poker on the mantle. He left the body to burn, tossing gas from one of the lamps onto the fire.

"What…?" I asked, coughing with the effort of speaking.

Rowan turned. "How long were you in the dark?" he asked. Considering the desperate look on my face he returned to his chair. "No, don't answer. Amelia," he turned to his wife, "go get one of Rose's storybooks, please."

She nodded, terrified, and sidled along the wall through a different door than the children had exited from.

Rowan turned back to me. "Those bugs are nasty. They're how the ringmaster controls people."

"How did it—" I broke off, coughing. I felt tears stinging my eyes, surprised to find that they were fearful.

Rowan laid his head softly on my cheek, and for the first time I could see a hint of the gentle man who had played with his daughter. "Don't be scared. For now, your crew should be okay. Where did you come from?"

I could not help myself taking hold of his hand, looking him in the eyes like he was my own father comforting me after a nightmare. "We…we came from Punk Hazard. But we've been traveling for a long time."

"Do you love the sea?" Rowen asked.

I nodded sadly and fearfully, "Yes."

"My children want to be pirates someday, maybe when you leave with the rest of your crew you can take them with you." Rowan smiled at me, squeezing my hand.

I closed my eyes, leaning my head into his hand. "We're never leaving…"

Rowan sighed. Just then, Amelia appeared again, with Rose and Daland. "Rose wanted to read to her," Amelia said apologetically.

Rose smiled at me, coming to take her father's seat as he stood and moved to stare into the hearth, putting his hand on Daland's head as he walked by.

"Do you like stories about pirates?" she asked.

I nodded, closing my eyes as Rose touched the folds of my dress's skirt.

She opened a storybook on her lap and cleared her throat to read. "Once upon a time, there were ten pirates. They were the bravest pirates on the seas, because their captain was a man who didn't know how to be afraid. Their boat was the most beautiful boat, and it knew how to talk. One day, the captain asked his first mate to mind the steering wheel while he went to speak to the navigator. The first mate, who was a very curious man, saw an island on the horizon and steered the boat towards it…"

Rose's voice trailed away, mixing with another, low-growling and fierce.

_Ten little pirates went a' sailing in the brine,_

_their ship went down a dark, cold path and now there's only nine!_

_Nine little pirates went and opened up the gate,_

_the gypsies came and ate one and now there's only eight!_

_Eight little pirates found the circus to be heaven,_

_so one said he would stay there and now there's only seven!_

_Seven little pirates had a traitor in their mix,_

_their loss was the salvation and now there's only six!_

"…but nothing could stop the pirates because they were so brave. The captain pulled out his sword to fight the dragon. His first mate strung his bow and stepped up beside him. The beast reared its ugly head and…"

_Six little pirates thought they'd make it out alive,_

_but the Circus played a clever trick and now there's only five!_

_Five little pirates thought the island must have more,_

_the bravest said she'd find the key and now there's only four!_

_Four little pirates went a' searching for the sea,_

_One died of screams, he'd lost the rest, and now there's only three! _

"…and so the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, saved Rouge from the wicked Sea King snake and they escaped together, back to his ship, where Red-Hair Shanks and Rayleigh were waiting to…"

_Three little pirates said "there's nothing we can do,"_

_one went mad and ran away and now there's only two!_

_Two little pirates thought the Maze had hid the sun,_

"Straw Hat Luffy tried to fight and now there's only one…"

Rose, Amelia, Daland, and Rowan were staring at me. Amelia dropped a bowl of soup she'd come out of the kitchen holding and Rose's eyes were wide as moons while she looked at me, her book open to the last page where a large, full-color illustration showed Rouge and Roger standing by the sea, holding hands.

"Did I say something?" I asked quietly.

"I thought Funhouse couldn't affect you!" Rowan said, coming up and putting his hand on my forehead again. He looked nervously into the fire where the bug's carapace was still burning slowly.

"Funhouse…?" I asked.

"It's that rhyme," Amelia said, returning to the main room with another bowl of soup. She shooed her daughter off the chair beside my bed and sat down beside me. She handed me the soup, a rich, cream-based broth with vegetables and fish mixed in. "It's supposed to be a story that tells how a great crew is destroyed. It's a story the gypsies have told for decades, and everyone since then has tried to decipher it."

Rowan picked the story up, putting his arm around Amelia. "The significance is clear, I'm sure." He raised his eyebrows as he looked at me, my face frozen in a mask of terror. "Your crew's coming was foretold. This story's already coming true."

My blood froze. "What do you mean?" I choked. My hands gripped the bowl in them hard.

Rowan looked pained, turning away and running his fingers through his hair. I looked to Amelia, but she'd stood and was ushering the children to the table, where four plates of soup were.

"Where are the rest of my nakama?" I asked forcefully, standing and walking towards Rowan, turning him to face me with a forceful hand on his shoulder.

There were tears in his eyes, his strong face broken by remorse. He put his hand on my shoulder, steadying me. "We're too late, the Circus has them."

* * *

_The Circus worked its magic and now there's only one…_


	9. Chapter 9

_The strong become weak, the weak become prey_

_ the cat caught the mouse but the mouse ran away,_

_ the mouse thought the hole was the best place to hide,_

_ but she didn't see the rat waiting inside…_

* * *

I sat in the semi-darkness of Rowan and Amelia's home, mending clothes while Amelia put the children to bed.

Rowan, in a wooden chair by the fire, looked up at me. "You seem troubled, pirate."

I looked at him, offering no reply. He'd learned not to expect them, and hardly seemed surprised.

Rowan set down his book. "I've a feeling you won't be here much longer," he said, turning in his chair to look at me. "But I like you. Will you at least talk to me?"

I looked at him. "I suppose."

He smiled. "Rose thinks you're a fairy," he said. "Because you came out of the Circus without being harmed."

I returned to my sewing, furrowing my brow. "Is the Circus really that dangerous?"

He knew I had already guessed the answer. "Yes, it is." He turned to look into the fire. "It takes lives every day…It killed my brother."

"In a performance?" I asked.

He shook his head, shivering a little at the thought of the performance-sacrifices and their terror. "No. He heard the calliope, and that marks one for death."

Chills shot down my spine and I thought back to the calliope my crew and I had heard before we'd even set foot on the island. "How?" I asked softly.

Rowan put his head in his hands. "I know you've heard it," he said. "The ringmaster wants to take care of your crew before the Circus can. He's worried you'll figure this whole bloody mess out before he does."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Rowan glanced at me and his whole face was lit up by the fire, like his skin was burning red-hot. "The Circus's being is a mystery, even to the ringmaster."

I put down my sewing, giving Rowan my full attention. "It's that merry-go-round horse on the chain, isn't it? That's where the Circus hides."

There was a dark scream from outside as some tunnel-beast rushed by. The underground where the Tentmasters lived was full of strange creatures, so dangerous that very few dared to brave the tunnels at all, preferring to live entirely contained lives in small, destitute communities that centered around dark-dwelling livestock and what plants could be made to grow in the chill under the Avalon Circus. Rowan stood, checking the bolts on the doors. "We don't talk about things like that here, pirate," he said sternly. "Besides, I couldn't answer your question anyway. No one knows what the difference is between the Circus and the ringmaster."

"Why do you think there is one?" I asked.

Rowan returned to his chair, pausing to prod the fire with the iron poker, to bring life back into it. "It's an old story. The WaterMen tell it." He understood my confusion without my having to explain it. "Those dark-skinned people. They live in the bogs near the island's center. From what I understand they're not entirely human."

"Is anyone here human?" I asked.

Rowan sank into his chair, shoulders slumped in resignation. "Sometimes I don't know. Our race—Tentmasters, I suppose, now—started out as human." He raised his hand, looking at his own palm. "But sometimes I think we're just ghosts. Just memories the Circus forgot it had until it got here."

"It's old, isn't it?" I asked.

Rowan nodded. "So ancient. There must have been old gods when it was born, old gods who couldn't sleep." He shut his eyes, pressing his palm to them. "We're caught in the fly-trap."

My heart picked up speed. I'd been waiting to speak to Rowan like this. "Rowan, I want to get my crew out," I said.

He started, wheeling around to look at me. "You what?"

"It's been two days, we're out of time. Teach me the way out of the tunnels!" I said, standing and walking to where he was forced to look me in the face.

Rowan smiled bitterly, moving his hand from his eyes. "No. You're the only thing keeping that whole story from coming true! If I let you out—"

"My nakama could be dead!" I shouted, loudly enough that I was sure to wake Rose, who was already asleep.

"If you wake my daughter up, Robin, there'll be hell to pay." Rowan growled, standing.

Amelia entered from the children's room. "Quiet down!" she said. "The girl's been having enough nightmares lately, I don't need you two keeping her up all night with your arguing!"

I gestured to Rowan's wife. "Imagine it was Amelia and Rose and Daland stuck out there, wouldn't you want to go get them no matter the cost? The tides change in seven days, that's time enough for me to get them out!"

Rowan slammed his fist against the earthen wall, looking at me with eyes full of regret and fear. His mouth was open to shout but Amelia shushed him and he quieted his voice to a whisper. "Don't you dare compare your dirty pirate scum to my family!"

"How dare you. They aren't scum! Captain-san saved my life, several times. They're all I have, they're everything in the world to me, and if you won't show me the way out I'll find it myself." My voice was cold, my eyes piercing into Rowan's.

"They're already dead, anyway!" he said hoarsely.

I crossed to the door that lead to the tunnels, taking the pack Amelia had given me from the wall. Over the tight-fitting shirt and pants of Daland's I'd been given to wear in place of the red dress, I threw a thick tunnel-coat, waterproof and dark to help me blend in. Setting my jaw, I wrenched open the door.

A Clockie stood just outside. The blonde girl's mouth was open wide, wide and red and fleshy on the melody-pipes piercing her throat. Her black eyes, without lids or whites or irises, were turned up at the corners as though she really smiled. "London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…" she sang. From her nose blood gushed and her arms, which were without hands, reached out towards me. Behind her more voices came, and more Clockwork Children materialized out of the dark, all bloodied, bruised, or wounded from their trek through what I knew were dangerous tunnels.

Rowan appeared at my side, dragging me away from the door. The first little girl had made her way into the living room. Amelia stood petrified, unable even to scream as the doll-like thing tottered towards her. "King and queen of Cantelon, how many miles to Babylon?" the girl chanted. "Eight and eight…and another eight…" Rowan clung to me, terrified at the inhuman stare, the shark's eyes and handless arms reaching for his wife. "Will I get there by candlelight?"

A bolt of silver shot from the girl's throat, trailed by sticky pus and sinew and a little melody box that still chittered that dreadful rhyme. It caught Amelia in the throat, pinning her back against the wall in a torrent of black blood that stained her dress and face as it sprayed. The Clockie's mouth opened wider and wider to laugh in an inanimate imitation of amusement.

"NO!" Rowan shouted, throwing me aside as he ran across the room straight at the Clockie. He tackled it to the ground and the mouth closed unforgiving jaws on his arm. More of the doll-child's sisters and brothers staggered into the room, heads spinning all round, wobbling towards their struggling sister and Rowan, who she had trapped in her jaws.

"London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…" sang the music box screwed to the end of the metal bolt that had skewered Amelia, tearing her throat to a crimson mess, her tongue hanging out as her limbs twitched in death throes.

Rowan was fighting hard. "Get out!" he shouted, looking at me. "Take the children, leave!" A dark-skinned Clockie chomped its wide, wooden mouth onto his face and tore. "Go to the bogs, ask for the fortune teller!" he shouted, his voice dissolving into agonized shouts.

I spun on my heel and kicked a Clockie hard between the eyes as it neared me. It had lost a leg in the tunnels and fell to the ground, still trying to scuttle along on its hands. Daland emerged from his bedroom, no doubt confused about he noise of screams and nursery rhymes coming from his living room. Without speaking, I ran past him, pushing hard on his chest and forcing him back through the door before he could see his parents, now both dead in messy heaps on the floor of the living room they had thought safe from the Circus's clutches. Daland gave a little cry as he fell to the floor. I conjured extra arms to pull his bed across the room to bar the door with, moving towards Rose who was sitting up in bed.

"What the hell's going on?" Daland said loudly. "Where are my parents?"

I ignored his question, adrenaline and the need to run pulsing fire into my blood. "Do you know the way up?" I asked him.

"Not well, only my dad—"

"Good!" I said, throwing the pack at him from my shoulder. "Put clothes for you and Rose in there. Now!" I turned to Rose, whose wide, blue eyes that were so much like her father's were open and teary.

"I'm having another nightmare…" she said plaintively.

"This one's real, sweetheart," I said, pulling her out of bed. From the tiny chest of drawers by her bed I pulled a thick red sweater. I pulled her arms and head through the holes and took her boots from the place beside her bed, helping her step into them. "Daland," I said as calmly as I could, "are you ready?"

"Where are—"

"Don't ask any more questions!" I said sharply, hoisting Rose onto my hip and turning to face him.

Daland was the picture of loss and confusion. He'd followed my lead and put on tunnel-clothes and the goggles he used to see in the dark. His small, barely-adolescent shoulders were set in certainty. He knew his parents were dead, even if I wouldn't tell him. "You killed them, didn't you?" he asked.

The bed banged against the opposite wall, barely missing Rose and I as it shot full-force across the room. A new sound emerged, low and deep, a growling murmur I recognized as that of one of the seven-jawed tunnel worms that stalked the underground feeding on humans. Daland's eyes met mine and he saw the truth painted there.

"Daddy!" Rose shouted as the door banged open and the green-black tunnel worm shot seven of its legs through. Rowan's head was skewered on one pointed foot. Ringing in my ears prevented me from thinking, and all I could do was cover Rose's eyes.

"Daland, get us out!" I shouted.

The boy screamed, seeing his father's head with the eyes and mouth dripping blood, the body trailing grotesquely from four more of the worm's legs. But fear or survival instinct made him quick. He wrenched open a door in the floor of his bedroom and dropped through it.

Without hesitating and with Rose's face still buried against my chest I followed him.

The tunnel was so dark I could not have seen my hand if it had been right in front of my face. Daland was waiting in the tunnel and before I'd regained my balance from a clumsy landing he'd tied a rope around my waist and secured it at my front.

"Don't you dare let her go!" he said. The rope was too short to tie Rose onto us.

"Never," I said solemnly.

Above us, the hollow of the Tentmaster family's house collapsed in a thunderous roar as the tunnel worm burrowed fully into Rose and Daland's bedroom. Daland barely paused, but I could hear a sob escape his frame. Rose, in my arms, was shivering, clearly in shock or too scared even to cry.

The dreadful rhymes echoed on and on in my head, caressing the back of my neck with goose-bumps and fear of the dark. _London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down….London bridge is falling down, my fair lady…_

* * *

_You keep me keen-hungry little bird._

_You know your nakama are just __**dying**__to see you again…_

* * *

It was coughing-dark for a long, long time. I ran without feeling, without hearing the scuttling sounds of the tunnel-worms or the blind lizards and snakes that puttered along undisturbed by the circus's attack.

I sensed, or I felt, that my crew did not know I was gone. Somewhere they must remember their scholar, the one they'd never really trusted…how far had the Bell-Viper twisted, to get Luffy to forget me? There had to be ten of us, but Ace could seamlessly fill my place. From what I understand, he was smart enough to replace me as Luffy's brain, friendly enough to give them another companion. I was alone again, and there were only seven days to get everyone out. It couldn't possibly be too late to save them. _Straw Hat Luffy tried to fight, and now there's only one_…the rhyme echoed dismally across my skull, trapping me in despair.

"We're almost there," Daland whispered, pulling a pistol from his pocket as light began to come into being. I blinked hard and Rose, silent and still in my arms, began to exist in the visible world again.

We came up in a tent I did not recognize, on a part of the island I was sure I had never seen before. Daland gasped, clearly unfamiliar with the place. "Where…" He turned to look at me, expecting an answer, expecting me to know something.

"Oh, Robin-san," a voice said from behind me.

I clung tighter to Rose as cold terror swept through me. Turning, I saw the tall form, the top-hat, the bronze pocket watch and that little gold chain with the rocking horse dangling ominous as a thunderstorm. The Bell-Viper stood just behind me.

Daland hunched low, almost growling hostilely.

The Viper took the whip from his belt and traced casual shapes with it in the dirt. "You know, I thought you were intelligent, Robin-san."

The whip's end was red with blood. I said nothing, dropping Rose, who ran to Daland.

"Where is my crew?" I hissed, untying the rope around my waist. Daland and Rose, terrified, ran back into the darkness of the tent where we'd come from.

The Viper tilted his head a little and took off his hat, placing it brim-up on the ground beside him. "Why would I know that, Robin-san?" he asked softly, his scales flashing green. From his top-hat a dark music was coming, and in the shallow darkness inside I could see long, thin arms, little tendrils of night with splayed fingers beginning to emerge. The Viper saw me looking. He glanced down at the hat then back up at me. "You know, leaving them was the stupidest thing you could do."

I smiled, tossing my hair. Though anxiety pounded inside me I tried to appear aloof. "I do like a challenge," I said.

The hands were solidifying, long fingers brokenly pointing in all directions. "They don't even know you're gone," he said.

"That's a lie," I replied, desperately hoping it was true.

The Bell-Viper moved so fast he became a long green blur against the midday landscape. From the top hat he pulled a fistful of the needle-fingered hands. They dragged long, open-mouthed and sharp-nosed bodies with them. Daland and Rose screamed as the black hands almost tore into my chest, the whip wrapping around my neck as if it would tear clean through it.

My clone vanished moments before the Viper's instruments went through her. He roared, his eyes all black as he cast around for me, thin equine nostrils flaring as he smelled me out.

I stepped from the tent behind him. "Boo," I said casually.

The Viper jumped and wheeled on me. "Very clever!" his speech was muffled, like he was speaking in tongues or some foreign language I wasn't meant to hear. He extended his hand and the hat flew towards him. The dark hands reached up his arm as he thrust it into the hat up to the shoulder. A long sabre appeared in his hand.

He struck with his whip again, but I side-stepped, running around to his other side, conjuring bodies every few steps, to confuse him.

"You're quite the opponent, Robin-san! Much smarter than Franky!"

I froze, the bodies around me stopping as well. The Bell-Viper raised his arms, trapped in a circle of my eyes. "What did you do?" I whispered, horrified.

The eyes landed right on my real face. He looked over his shoulder, tongue flickering like a flame between his lips. "Little Robin Red-breast came to visit me," he said, turning to face me. "This is what he whistled, thank you for my tea…" The Viper's eyes opened wide, the demons crawling from the top hat beside him now had free reign of the circle and moved slowly, oozing about his feet, echoing from black mouths the rhyme.

"What are these songs…" I choked.

The Viper spun the long sabre in his hand, the whip smacking across the long, disfigured bodies of the demons from the hat. His scales shone green and full in the morning air, his eyes deep black, the pupils vertical. The fangs spit venom as he spoke. "Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a rail…" he took a step towards me. Instinctively, I conjured a hand to stop him. He sliced it open and I felt pain rush through me. Crying out, I sank to my knees, cradling my bleeding hand.

The Bell-Viper walked right up to me, kneeling in the dirt over me. I reached up to fight but my hand met only his sword, which had changed hands. He grabbed my hair as my other hand gushed blood onto my lap. "this is what she told me, I'll escape, I cannot fail."

Those black eyes were huge, larger than anything I had ever seen. And in them was Crocodile, in them was Miss All Sunday and Ohara's destruction and my life spent running, running. _You should have been running the other way, Robin-san_, the Bell-Viper's voice echoed in my head.

"Who…" I found myself unable to speak or move, unable to flee.

The ringmaster smiled. "Franky was dead before he knew he was…Funhouse got inside of him, now he's just like Lustre!" In the ringmaster's swallowing eyes an image appeared. Franky stood in the middle of the circus ring, on top of a pile of bloody limbs clothed like the harlequin clowns we'd seen at the performance. His mouth was open, the bottom jaw cut off and gruesomely hanging in the air a few feet away. The hands had been skewered by two spider-limbs and dangled above him. His neck was horribly broken, the legs dangling at awkward angles. His stomach had been slashed open and on the ground in front of him lay all his organs, shining and wet and grey, all in a perfect circle around his heart. I cried out in horror as Funhouse appeared from the floor. Franky, somehow still alive, screamed against the small tent, the dreadful calliope and screaming and calls of 'mama, mama, mama' that would never stop as long as the world kept turning. The Funhouse's empty, smiling face grew up and up until it was eight feet tall. Ponderously, it took one look at Franky then darted forward, plunging its arm up to the shoulder through his jaw, tearing the throat open, bursting the body at the seams. Its mouth pressed vacuum-tight against Franky's eyes and when it pulled away they were gone. Funhouse's hand wriggled inside Franky's body as it sank suddenly sharp teeth into his nose, tearing it from his face. The hand stopped and emerged with the little green ball of poison the Bell-Viper's whip had left. Funhouse smiled and laughed a dreadful, grating laugh as what was left of Franky's mouth opened in a silent scream. Funhouse put the ball into its mouth and closed its lipless jaws around it.

Franky vanished into the ball, and was swallowed by Funhouse. It turned, shoulders hunched sheepishly, its head cocked over its shoulder like it was a disobedient child caught eating candy. Grinning wickedly, it laughed. Franky's eyes stared out of those two socketless holes in Funhouse's face.

I was sobbing, petrified in my terror as the Bell-Viper threw me to the ground and kneeled over me, straddling my body, pinning my arms to my sides with his knees and holding the sword above me. "It's a pity, really…" he said, his eyes horrifyingly human. "Something so strong, so durable as metal trapped inside that little canvas sack." The Viper traced his fingernails over my cheek, leaning down close to my face. The black top hat demons skittered around, nibbling at the ends of my hair and at my fingertips. "But he'll have the pleasure of dying twice in service to the Circus!"

"We'll…we'll get out…!" I managed to say through lips and tongue made heavy by terror.

The Bell-Viper's teeth edged close to my ear. "No you won't," he whispered. "They're childhood songs, Robin." His face was just centimeters from mine. "Do you know what that means…?"

_Little Robin Red-Breast came to visit me,_

_ This is what he whistled, thank you for my tea…_

The Viper's eyes wavered as a low thrum set birds flying from the trees. From wherever I had emerged from the tunnels, I could hear beasts in the Garden Valley. He sat up, still holding me still. I looked up at the sky, which was beginning to be obscured by clouds that were an odd blue-purple color. The Viper looked at me in triumph. "All this time you haven't been afraid, love. Now Mirror Maze has woken up." The Viper leaned in close again, whispering so close to my ear I felt his cold, dry tongue slide across it. "He _knows_ things like that. He'll break you…!"

I gathered my strength to thrust the Bell-Viper from me, adrenaline making my body strong, fierce. With all the power I had I thrust my weight up.

Just as the Bell-Viper's teeth sank into my neck. Pain flashed in white-red streaks across my vision as the venom from his hollow fangs pulsed into me, greedy and hot through my blood. My eyes were glued open. I struggled to scream, but he had a hand over my nose and mouth so I could not scream or breathe. I watched as the clouds became thicker and swirled around themselves like vortexes that would suck the whole island up into a dreadful whirlwind. The Bell-Viper retracted his fangs and stood, looking down at me with a smile, his lips red with my blood. He reached out a hand and his top hat flew to him. The demons that struggled inside were quelled as he replaced it on his head. "You won't stop me killing Luffy, he deserves it…!" the ringmaster hissed. The slithering whip gathered itself into loops at his belt.

Pain and blood-loss and the venom in my body made me struggle to answer. I tossed a word at him, though what it was I can't remember.

He looked down at me as the first peals of thunder from the storm rolled in. "Hate goes on forever, Robin-san."

* * *

_Wind me down_

_me music box me _

_seller of little beads the open-mouthed screams…_

_Wake me up, all parts. The oldest—of course—being God or Demon or ocean-breath into the sky._

_Servants are so tiresome, so tryingly mundane at times. And old as I, remember the day the world stopped turning the Glorious Day of Birth._

_My womb was darkness and fear, the looseness of my skin a pity. _

_Been following this prey too long I think it starts to infect my mind. _

_For one second, Luffy, you seemed human again. _

_I cradle these delusions yes I think I see me waiting_

_in the gypsy camp the WaterMan bridge the porcelain high-king tent._

_Ringmaster…you're more an animal every day. How gloriously blind snakes are, they can't see out the sides of their eyes…_

_Little Robin Red-Breast came to visit me;_

_this is what he whistled: thank you for my tea._

_Little Robin Red-Breast sat upon a rail, _

_Niddle Noddle went his head, wiggle waggle went his tail. _

_She tastes like blood, I'd imagine…_

_It's been too long. I was already old when the world started turning…_

_Old Kings and Queens and then me come _

_me_

_collector of the bones marrow-sucker like a fish me_

_quiet beastie in the dark…_

_The world becomes dark, the dark becomes teeth,_

_The planet is rock with a flame underneath!_

_And when it cracks open the dark can get free,_

_That's where you get little children like me!_

* * *

It's not so much that I slept as that I could not wake up. I could hear talking, various voices colliding around me. The storm beat and beat but I could not feel rain. Outside, a plucked-string instrument dangled music across my senses. The air was moist and almost solid. I could see—or maybe I imagined—a greenness to it, like I was breathing life.

"Robin?" I recognized the voice, male and a little gruff, maybe with tears.

"Shh, you'll wake her!" a sharper, more rattling voice countered.

I heard a door open and close, the music got louder and I could hear frogs or crickets chirping outside. Dull lights winked in and out of focus. A gasp, followed by light footsteps. "Oh my god!"

"Nami, stop!" the first voice said.

The name sounded familiar, I pulled my eyes open and saw through half-blurred lids Zoro, Brook, and Nami kneeling at my sides. "Nami…?" I said quietly.

Zoro sighed in relief, his head sinking into his hands. "She's alive!" he said.

Nami sat down near my head, reaching down to a bowl of water on the floor. She pressed a wet rag against my forehead and then my neck. The pressure made me hiss, little black pain-spots flickering across my vision. "Robin, it's okay." Nami put her hand on my forehead, just as my mother had when I was sick as a child, just as Amelia and Rowan had. And they were all dead now, skeletal remains pulsing inside tunnel-worm acids and little memory-dust at sea.

"I thought…" my head was clearing, the pain returning me to my senses. "I thought you forgot me…"

Outside the storm beat hard against the walls of a large, low, wood-sided tent. Brook came and put his hand on Nami's shoulder, speaking to me. "We could never forget you, Robin."

I brushed Nami's hand away gently and sat up. I was laying on the tent's floor, with canvas sacking stuffed full of feathers creating a pillow. Once again, I was nowhere I recognized. "Where are we?" I asked. "And where's everyone else?"

Zoro answered, pulling Nami close to him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "We sent out search parties when you didn't come home after the performance. All of us were worried sick. And the Bell-Viper said splitting up would be the best way to find you."

I turned my head sharply. "The Viper told you that?" I asked.

"Yes, is something wr—"

I stood immediately. Brook followed me, grabbing hold of my elbow in case I fell. My balance was secure. "Do you know where the others are?" I asked, walking towards the tent's door.

"No, we don't," Brook said. "Robin, slow down." He followed me, putting his hand over mine to stop it turning the handle. "This isn't like you, what happened?"

I looked into the deep pits of his eyes. Once, they'd terrified me. But now that darkness seemed so sure, so safe compared to the Funhouses and Mirror Mazes and sharp-toothed gypsies and murder. I felt myself weaken and I leaned into Brook, happy to have my nakama back.

"I was with the Tentmasters," I said. "They have whole cities underground, safe cities where the circus-magic can't get them."

Zoro stood and came to stand, arms crossed, a few feet away. Nami followed him. "What do you mean, where the magic can't get them?"

I looked him dead in the eyes. "You know what I mean, swordsman-san," I said.

Nami put her hand on his forearm, a little protectively. He put his fingers over hers, not looking away from my wide, dark stare. "It's evil, this place!" I said.

All three of them started at the harshness in my voice. Brook let me go and I stood alone, coated in the horror that was all around us.

"It can't be…" Nami said. Her face hardened. "The ringmaster told us you'd try to trick us, that you were a traitor!"

I turned my head so they could see the two still-bleeding wounds in my neck. "What do you think did that, Nami?" I said fiercely. "What other kind of animal has fangs?"

"He's not an animal!" she protested, stepping close and pushing on my shoulder, forcing me against the wall.

Her eyes had changed. They were darker, the pupils wider. And all the fight, the wonderment and knowledge that had once detected storms and waves, the ferocity that had defeated so many enemies, was gone.

"He got you, too, didn't he?" I asked casually.

Zoro's eyes narrowed as he furrowed his brow. "Nami…?" he came up behind her, putting his arms around her.

"Let me go!" she said, pulling away and backing across the room, her back pressed against the wall.

Zoro and Brook looked at me, expecting answers. "It changes people," I said.

"How?" Brook asked.

Nami sank against the wall, looking almost afraid. "I don't know," I said.

Zoro neared Nami again, putting his hand out to touch her hair.

She looked up at him, terrified. "I'm seeing…butterflies…"

Zoro's shoulders hunched as he bent down to her. He looked back at me. "It gets inside us," he said. "With what we want most."

"How does it know?" Brook asked, pressing his hands against where his heart should be.

The picked music from outside stopped. Seconds later the door opened and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen entered the hut. Her skin was so dark it almost hurt to look at it, the ebony contrast too gorgeous against the pale, rain-washed wood of the tent's sides. She wore an old, tattered ball gown like the ones we'd seen the porcelain people wearing at the performance. Its old lace was yellowed at the edges and hung drab and magisterial from the sleeves and bodice. Around her neck were tooth and bone necklaces like the ones the gypsies wore, she had at least two dozen on, of varying lengths and colors. Some claws were large and sharp, others dull, old, and worn. Her eyes were crystal blue, chillingly so, standing out in her face like two pale winter stars. Night-black hair tumbled to her knees, streaked with grey.

At her waist and hips she wore two belts. They were both leather, brown, and strung with all manner of pouches and weapons. She carried a small knife, a whip almost like the Bell-Viper's, and a short-sword sheathed across her back. The cloth pouches were colorful and sized differently, each seemed to fit into some kind of greater pattern, though it was impossible to say what that pattern was.

She was impossibly old and young, the hands at once arthritic and beautiful, the slump to the posture both seductively mysterious and crone-like. The voice, when she spoke, was old music and fresh, mutilated silence. "Children always know things like that," she said.

We all stood dumbfounded, staring at her. She closed the door and crossed the tent to a small table where some bread and cheese sat by a pitcher of water.

Brook regained the ability to speak first. He took a step towards the woman, tapping his cane on the ground in front of him. "Who are you?" he asked.

She sliced the bread easily as she replied. "I am the fortune-teller, oldest on the island aside from the Funhouse and the Mirror Maze themselves."

No one knew what to say. We stood frozen. The fortune-teller sensed our awkwardness and sat at the table, arms folded in front of her. She laughed, musically and drily. "Do not be afraid, please, come here." She gestured to four chairs set up around the table. Glancing at one another, we moved cautiously to sit. She looked at the bruising and bloody cuts on my neck. "The Bell-Viper?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," I replied stonily. The Funhouse had been unable to get into my mind, I determined not to let this woman do it.

"You are a strong girl," she said. She paused, handing us each two slices of bread and a hunk of cheese. From the pitcher she poured us each a glass of water and from a pouch at her hip she poured wine. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Three days," I answered.

"I thought it was four," Zoro said.

"No, a year at least!" Brook exclaimed.

"I would have said we got here today…" Nami countered, leaning her cheek against her hand.

The fortune-teller looked at us, a little concern in her eyes. She looked at me. "You are unbroken," she said. "The rest of your crew cannot see time anymore." Her eyes landed on Brook, "you're the worst, skeleton-man. Are you already dead?"

Brook cocked his head to the side. "I'm once dead but—"

The fortune-teller finished his sentence. "not twice?" she said with a smile.

Brook shook his head, putting his fingers to his temple. "How did you know that?" he asked.

The fortune-teller pushed her plate out of the way and brought a cloth bag from her belt. It was bright green, about the size of her hand, and she reverently removed a deck of cards from it. "These are tarot cards," she said. Each had a large, open purple eye printed on the back. She shuffled and lay out three cards. They read in gold script, _The Fool, The Devil,_ and _The Lovers_. The third card was inverted, the two people entwined on it seeming to hang suspended like the animal trees in the Garden Valley. The fortune teller looked long at the cards, running her hands through her hair.

"Do you know what they mean, Robin?" Zoro whispered.

I shook my head. The cards seemed to be emanating strange energy, the air around them shivering as though in heat.

The fortune-teller looked at us. "One of you is already dead, yes?" she asked.

My companions shook their heads. "Yes," I answered.

"Franky…" Brook whispered. Nami pressed her hand over her mouth and Zoro put his arm around her, setting his face firmly.

"And you've all heard the calliope?"

Nami was crying, Zoro and Brook were doing their best not to. "Yes," I replied again.

She pushed the deck of tarot cards across the table to me. "Cut the deck," she said.

I hesitated, the purple eye on the back of the card blinked its gold-green lids at me. I almost gave in to tears, to the real fear now beating at my insides, not just for my life but for my crew's lives. The storm outside had some kind of meaning, and our presence here had been foretold by gypsies decades ago. And we were all going to die. I cut the cards near the bottom of the deck.

The fortune-teller gathered them up and took the one off the top. It read _The Tower_.

She tilted her head then looked up at us. "What is your crew called?" she asked.

"The Straw Hats," we all answered, almost in unison. There was pride in the name, the ability to overcome. It gave us comfort.

She rocked back in her chair. "And where is Straw Hat Luffy?" she asked.

We looked at one another. "We don't know," Brook answered cautiously. "We went searching for—"

"Robin," she said, looking directly at me. "The cards told me that. You've heard the rhyme, haven't you?" she asked me.

"I think Funhouse told it to me, while I was with the Tentmasters," I said.

"What rhyme?" Zoro asked, frustrated.

Neither the fortune-teller nor myself answered him. "You've dreamed your captain's death?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied tersely.

"What?" Nami said, horrified. "Luffy's dead?"

"No," I answered, looking at her with as much of a smile as I could manage, "not yet."

The fortune-teller looked down at the cards, touching _The Lovers_. She looked up at Zoro and Nami. "You two are in love?" she asked.

They looked at each other and then at us. Brook and I lowered our eyes.

"I…well, I guess, yes," Zoro said. Nami looked up at him, a little afraid.

She touched _The Devil_, "prepare for death a second time, my friend," she said to Brook.

He swallowed, his hands clenching into fists. "Not here," he vowed hoarsely. "I'll die at sea, like I always wanted."

The fortune-teller narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps," she said. She touched _The Fool_ "if your nakama can get you out." She was looking right at me.

"What do I need to do?" I asked, determined. Brook had taken my hand, and Nami's fingers were brushing my shoulder. I felt Zoro's eyes on me. I would have died to protect them.

The fortune-teller tapped the last card on the table. The words _The Tower_ shivered in silver letters as the card bent in the light. "This means death, change, foreboding things to come. You've got to get your crew out, or else you're doomed."

I heard the dreadful rhyme echoed in my head, the assurance with which Funhouse had spoken it. The consistency of the little songs plagued me. "Fortune teller-san, is there any hope?" I asked, clenching my fingers around Brook's.

She met my gaze evenly. "You know the answer to that question," she said. There was no joy in her eyes.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. Around me, I could almost feel my nakama dying. "There's a secret to this place, isn't there?" I asked.

The fortune-teller scooped the blinking cards back into their bag. "the Avalon Circus keeps many secrets," she replied.

"In the form of bones?" I asked. "There are sunken ships in the harbor, I saw them when we were sailing here. And dead men walk, men who died horribly."

The fortune-teller bared her teeth. "It eats things, little pitiful souls with something to lose."

"The ringmaster isn't in control, is he?" I asked.

"It's his hatred that governs the place, that makes the nightmares. Of course he knows everything."

"Why does the Circus hate Luffy?" Zoro asked, holding tighter to Nami.

The fortune-teller bent her head low and raised her eyes to the sky. Her hands moved as though she entered a trance, and all the lights in the room dimmed ominously, painting shadowy faces on the walls. "I don't know that," she said, her speech slurring, her eyes rolling back into her head like she was in a trance. "It's the singing…London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…" her voice grew lower, darker and full of malice.

"The Bell-Viper told me they were childhood songs—"

"Because he's a child!" she cut in harshly, her voice clicking against her teeth. "Time goes too odd here, the Mirror Maze woke up after sleep of eons. We've followed so long, so long dragged the burden of canvas teeth and gypsy fishermen." The trance deepened, her head cocking so far to the side I heard her neck crack, almost break. The shoulders dropped, distortedly elongating her neck. "If you want to get out, you've got to get _in_ first…! Don't forget the traitor's coming, already here, already _infecting_," she slid the last word off the tip of her tongue like a marble.

"Who is the traitor?" I whispered hoarsely. Beside me, Zoro had pulled out a sword, Brook was ready to fight, and Nami had a piece of the Clima-Tact in her hand.

"The deck gives up its own!" she cried. The trance broke and she collapsed onto the table, shrieking in a language none of us knew.

My nakama and I hesitated no longer. Terrified, we bolted from the hut, emerging onto a wooden bridge suspended over boggy green water where crocodiles swam. Thin boats trailed nets through the water. I paused in amazement, staring at the air thick with fireflies and moss, a canopy of low-hanging trees entirely encasing the stilted and floating tent-village. Brook was behind me, pushing me along towards a bridge that ascended into the trees.

Dark-skinned people darted out of our way, shouting at us as we bolted along the planked and elevated streets. I was blind in terror, following Zoro and Nami, who were running hand in hand. _Never getting out, never getting out, never getting out_ my brain beat at every turn.

"We have to find Luffy!" I shouted to Zoro as we bolted up the bridge that would take us out of the low village. We stopped at the top, all of us blinking in the sunlight. The Avalon Circus's tents spread out endlessly before us. It was a rat-maze and we were trapped inside.

"Why?" Zoro said, wheeling on me. "We should go back to the ship and wait for them to find us. I don't want any of you getting hurt!"

"You sound like Franky," I protested. "And look what happened to him!"

"I don't know what—"

"Funhouse got him! He's Lustre now," I said coldly.

Nami screamed, pressing her hands to her mouth. Brook swore fervently. Zoro and I stood in contest, staring at one another.

"Unless you want that to happen to the rest of us, we need to find Luffy. Now."

Zoro looked at Nami, who was muttering into Brook's shoulder as he held her, kneeling over her and sheltering her like a child. She was beautiful and terrified and in her, Zoro saw everything he loved. Everything worth protecting. He looked at me. "Can we fight this?" he asked.

"I know what we need to do," I said. "But I can't do it alone."

Zoro ran his fingers through his hair. Nami and Brook stood. Nami's face was wet with tears and terror, but her shaking shoulders showed only courage. Brook was twirling his cane in his hands. I looked at them and they nodded affirmation.

"I promised death couldn't have me until I'd become the best. I'll stay alive to keep my promise to Kuina." He extended a hand.

I took it. Zoro pulled me close. I smiled broadly and fiercely. Seeing my nakama again restored in me the blind faith that we could escape. "The Bell-Viper fights with a sword, you know."

"Perfect," Zoro growled.

* * *

_The fear becomes hope the hope becomes blind,_

_The face in the fabric will get in your mind._

_I hear what you say, and you think you can fight?_

_The cat eats the mouse and the dark eats the light…_


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, no author's notes last week! You all got a break from me annoying you, but no longer! I'm back to pestering you guys for reviews. It's absolutely necessary, we authors run on reviews, you know. Seriously, I'm really excited about this story and I hope you guys are too! So let me know, and I'll do my best to reply and take any suggestions you give!

Also, sorry for the several hour delay in uploading! The internet is a bitch. Especially at my house, where it likes to periodically go AWOL.

Please keep in mind chapters will probably get shorter from here on out sometimes, cause I have school work to do : (. But they'll be no less epic, so please keep reading and REVIEWING!

_Am I beginning to unravel? _

_In my mind, my face is an apple that shrivels up around my open eyes. _

_The Mirror Maze will hurt them, surely…_

_But where's the torn seam? The gypsies need their smiles cross-stitched again or they'll give the game away. _

_I can't take this waiting anymore, not with only six more days. _

_We'll destroy the bridge, keep it burning long enough_

_that sparks will get in their eyes._

_It's said blind men can see,_

_I've heard mute men can speak,_

_but a mirror just whispers,_

_though that voice is not weak..._

* * *

"Kuina told me once she had a dream about ducks. that she and I raised them together, in a little house on the top of a mountain." Zoro leaned down and kissed the sleeping Nami's forehead, his eyes glowing oddly in the firelight. He laughed, putting his hand in her hair. "I don't know why I remember that now."

I looked up from the map I was attempting to draw. "Because it doesn't matter now, swordsman-san."

He set his jaw. There was quiet. A few feet away, Brook was singing quietly as he traced Franky's shape into the dirt, trying to give our friend whatever burial he could. "Do you ever remember things like that?" Zoro asked me.

I closed my eyes, my heart contracting. "When I was little, I remember my friend caught a crab. It was pretty and purple, we wanted to keep it for his mother so we filled a vase with water and sand to take home. But we forgot it on the beach and the next day when we went back for it, the crab was gone, the vase tipped over." I laughed. "We looked all day for another like it, but we never saw one. I think maybe it was a little spirit we captured."

The fire crackled and Brook's little melancholy song danced away into our fourth night on the Avalon Circus. We sat under a tree with our backs to one of the tents, all of us tense because the maw of another tent gaped at us, the darkness that lead to nowhere baring holes in us.

"Robin," Brook said, turning towards me, his skeletal shoulders slumped, "are we really going to be able to fight?"

I clenched my fist. "Of course, Brook," I said. "We've gotten out of worse than this before."

My weak attempt at a smile elicited a little sighing laugh. "She said I'm gone. You should leave me…" his voice was breathy. I wondered what his eyes had looked like in life.

Zoro tapped Brook on the head with the hilt of one of his swords. "You bonehead, we're not leaving you anywhere," he said as cheerily as he could.

Brook stood. "Bonehead? That's a funny one, Zoro." He took a few steps into the dark, listening out to the alleyways where Clockies and gypsies and monsters waited to eat us. "It's like heaven…" he said breathily.

"Brook, what do you-"

He tapped his cane hard. Nami flinched in her sleep and I narrowed my eyes. "I could be king here. The Bell-Viper said they need performers…that's where Franky must be! He's not dead, he's just performing, just rehearsing…"

I stood, going to Brook and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Stop it," I said. "We're going to get out, I know you believe that."

He turned his head without moving his shoulders, all the way around so it was facing me. "It's just bread and circuses!" he said energetically, stepping towards me on that backwards body. "It's all just so much fun, all the blood and carnage, all the teeth! The skeletons buried aren't enough, they must need more!"

Brook took his head in his hands and turned his body back around. I was almost too scared to speak looking into the cavities in his head black as the yawning circus tent behind him. "What do you mean, musician-san?"

Faster than I could react, he stepped forward and pulled me into a waltz, humming and speaking through his teeth. "I said bread," he spun me under his arm and pulled me close to his chest, the strong, creaking arms tight around my back. "And circuses!" He took three sweeping steps in a circle, pulling me with him. Zoro was on his feet, a sword half-drawn, and Nami was sitting up staring in wonder. Brook was gasping with laughter, holding my head up so I was forced to look into his face. "Don't you know I've already been here? That I already know everything?"

I found my voice shaking as I pulled away. "Who are you?" I asked.

Brook hunched low to the ground, almost almost on all fours, hands on his knees. He cocked his head to the side. "I'm just who you think I am, missy, and no more than that!" The teeth chattered in his head as he laughed.

"Zoro…" Nami whispered hoarsely as Brook set his inhuman eyes on her, tottering in a crawl faster than I could force my fear-frozen limbs to react to.

Brook stretched out, leaning far over Nami and inhaling deeply, like he was smelling her. "You smell like the sea, lady!"

Nami reached up and slapped Brook hard across the face. His head spun around and around, wiggling on its axis. It came to rest looking right back down at her. "Ouch," he said, and lunged forward to bite Nami.

Zoro and I reacted at the same time, he drawing a sword and plunging it towards the middle of Brook's back, me running forward to tackle him. He was fast and limber enough to avoid both the attacks, somersaulting in the air and landing perfectly on the pole of the tent above our heads. "You'll have to move faster than that! Catch me if you can!" Brook put his hands over his eyes, rubbing them like there was something wrong. He tottered and nearly fell.

"Brook, what the hell's the matter with you?" Zoro cried.

Nami had struggled to her feet and clung to me. "He's gone, Zoro, there's no hope for him."

Brook had stopped twirling and hunched down, hands pressed to his eyes. "No hope?" he echoed. "Missy, the circus breeds hope like maggots in a corpse! You see, the circus gave me back my eyes!"

Brook took his hands away from his face, spreading his arms wide like he was making some kind of declaration. Two perfect strawberries sat poised in his eye cavities, red and oblong. They dripped reddish juice onto his face like little rivulets of blood. Nami gasped in horror and I felt my stomach turn.

"Brook, what the—" Zoro began.

"I told you!" Brook shouted in a high, bone-rattling voice. "It's heaven! See how high we fly!" He bent his knees further and launched himself as high as he could into the air. He sailed up and up, his body going limp as he began to waver in the air, to fall.

He landed flat on his back, crashing to the ground right in front of Zoro. The strawberries glared up at us from the whole skeleton, somehow undamaged. His cane clattered broken a few feet away. "Oh, dear," he said, looking down into the point of Sandai kitetsu, which was pointed right at his face. His whole body jittered, the bones rattling against one another eerily. "Do you know what I am?" Brook said hoarsely.

"You're Brook," Nami said. "You're our musician and…and you're traveling the whole Grand Line so you can get back to your friend Laboon who's waiting for you!"

Brook's body jittered harder on the ground, his back caving, limbs twitching madly. "This island was made to trap children…I remember back before it was here…"

"No you don't," I challenged. "You don't remember anything about the circus, we got here four days ago."

"No, no, no, you're wrong! I was born when the world stopped turning, when the gods and goddesses forgot about the maggot in the hole at the center of the earth…" Brook rolled faster than Zoro could react and stood a few feet away, almost in the mouth of the tent. "You remember, too!" he pointed at me. One of the strawberries in his eyes was coming loose, rolling a little as he gesticulated wildly. "Our first meal was godflesh, that demon Erril's little daughter? Oh she barely fed Mirror Maze, barely at all, little ugly thing…I think she liked the clowns the best…" he hiss-laughed through his teeth.

All the hair on my body was standing up, prickling at its ends like someone was driving electric shocks through me. "Brook, get down from there," I said.

His jaw dropped and he pressed his palms to his cheeks in disbelief. "You said my name!" he said. "You never say anybody's name…" He lifted one leg high, high and brought it down, stilt-walking in that strange way towards us.

"Zoro, Nami, be ready to run," I whispered. Smiling at Brook, I continued. "I know," I said, "but that's not your name, really, is it?"

Brook froze, his leg high in the air, body hunched beneath it. He straightened, the strawberry eyes studying me menacingly. "You think you know what' what's what, don't you, Nico Robin? You've got a pin in it like in the heart of a butterfly, you've been around the mulberry bush and you know what's on the other side?"

"I can fight you, Mirror Maze," I said stonily, confidence building in me. "Because I know what you are."

Brook lowered his head, his fists clenched tightly. He growled like an animal. "No you don't, you'll never guess who I am! Never! You can't escape from this!" Brook's head spun around wildly again. He took it in his hands and stopped its movement. "You know what the worst part is, Nico Robin?" Mirror Maze asked in Brook's voice. The tones were low, worshipful. He laughed through his teeth, both strawberries jiggling wildly in their sockets. "I give them their bodies back, just before they die!"

I watched, as horrified as Nami and Zoro as Brook stood on tiptoes and waltz-stepped in a little circle. "Girls and boys are come out to play, the moon doth shine as bright as day!" Brook ripped his own head off, breaking the vertebrae, the spinal cord. His hat tumbled off as he stuck the bare skull into its place completely upside down. "Leave you supper and leave your sleep, come with your playfellows into the street!" He struck a pose, hands outstretched like a magician's when he has just completed a trick. The skull chattered as from the blackness inside the tent an enormous cockroach skittered. He bent to retrieve it, clutching it tight in his boney fingers. "Come with a whoop, come with a call," Brook lifted the roach to his mouth and put it in. The upside down black eyes, the odd sticking out hair where his throat should be, were cruel and malicious. "Come with good will…or none at all…" Then it was like the dark, the terror, left him. Brook's hands jittered and his face contorted into a mask of terror for the five seconds it took his brain to register it was no longer attached to his body. The strawberries fell out of his eyes and he buckled to his knees, toppling dry and alone into the darkness beyond the tent's mouth.

Nami was the first to scream, and her voice echoed off all the tents around us. Zoro ran forward, but I bolted in front of him to stop him.

"He's gone, swordsman-san!" I said. "Don't touch him or the Maze will get you!"

Zoro snapped, tossing his sword aside and grabbing me by the shoulders, pinning me against the wall of the tent. "You know what the fuck's going on? Then tell me! I can't take this anymore, the dying! Tell us how to fight!"

"Calm down, swordsman-san!" I shouted. I snapped my head to look at Nami. "Don't touch that body, Nami." I said.

She was kneeling on the ground beside him, her face stained with tears. "But it's Brook! We might be able to save him. We could get him out…we could…"

"That's not Brook, not any more than I am," I said evenly, breaking away from Zoro, who did not struggle to hold me still. I touched Nami's back.

"Robin, why does the circus know so much about you?" Nami asked. "You're not a traitor like the Bell-Viper said, are you?"

Zoro came and knelt at my side. He took Nami in his arms, kissing her forehead. Nami still looked at me, eyes wide. "No, navigator-san, I'm not a traitor. But I know something and the Avalon Circus doesn't like that."

"What do you know, Robin?" Nami whispered.

"And why does it make the circus want to hurt you?" Zoro asked.

I sat back, running my fingers through my hair. _After I say this, there's no going back. Every damned creature on this island will be out to get all of us…_ "I know…" I sighed, seeing the determination on my nakama's faces. "I figured this out during the performance, and then confirmed it while I was with the Tentmasters. The Circus isn't a thing itself. Funhouse and Mirror Maze, they aren't real, or at least not physically. The Avalon Circus is fed on the ringmaster's hate, that's the only way it exists. And right now the person the ringmaster hates is Luffy."

"Why?" Nami asked.

I sighed angrily. "That's what I don't know. That's why we need to find him."

"Why would the Bell-Viper care about destroying our whole crew if it's only Luffy he hates?" Zoro asked. A close, skittering sound made all of us stand, turning into the dark. Our tiny fire still crackled, keeping the bugs and Clockies out.

I laughed quietly. "It's a child's logic. One person hurts you so you have to destroy everyone. I think the Bell-Viper's lost control of the circus, I think it got into his mind and that's why he's making it hurt us."

"But you just said the circus wasn't a real thing," Nami said, clutching the pieces of the Clima-Tact.

I shook my head. "That's not what I meant. It's real all right, just not all the time. It needs a body, a mind to get into." I gestured to Brook's remains, around which little beetles were already crawling. "Like that. The only way to kill the circus is to destroy or get rid of all the bodies it has to infect."

"But that would mean killing every person on the island, including us!" Zoro said.

I crossed my arms, inhaling deeply. "No, it wouldn't. Because everybody on this island is already dead. Everyone except for us and the Bell-Viper."

"No," Zoro said. "No, they can't be. Then how are they walking around? How does this place exist with only dead people on it?"

"Because it can resurrect them. In the performance, Lustre and Funhouse actually created life from something that was just a bunch of limbs. There must be one thing, one object, that allows it to breathe life into dead souls, one part of it that can travel."

Zoro and Nami recoiled, horrified. "What does it get by gathering these souls? What does it want?" Zoro demanded.

"The Avalon Circus doesn't want anything. That's what makes it so evil." I said. A closer, more threatening sound came out of the tent and we backed away against a tree. "It needs people to want things for it. It needs _human _motivation. And it knows where to find it. Since humans were first created it's been savaging us, tricking us. That's how old the circus is! The gypsies, I read about a race of shark-people who went extinct over ten thousand years ago because every one of them killed themselves. Every single man, woman, and child all dead at once. The odd thing? They were found without eyes, every one of them. And in the open ocean, with no land around. And those WaterMen? They're not human, you saw there weren't reflections in the fortune-teller's eyes, I know you noticed that. And their boats aren't made for ocean water, that means they're older than the sea and the circus still got them! And the Tentmasters have storybooks about their own massacre. When the circus moved here it killed every one of them it could find. Some lived, but not many, and I don't think it can use them for bodies anyway."

"Why not?" Zoro asked.

"Because the circus needs fear, or pain, or hatred. That's one thing every member of our crew has, unfulfilled dreams, a reason not to die. The circus feels that, and likes it, and wants us to be part of it because our souls will feed it for longer."

Zoro stepped away from Nami, drawing his sword and looking into the dark. Little figures were slithering in and out of view, afraid to come into the light but still eerily present. "That doesn't explain why it knows so much about you, Robin."

My hands were shaking. There were eyes out in the dark, and teeth, little wooden or metal teeth, glinting. "Yes it does, swordsman-san." I said. "Because when I was just a little girl, the Avalon Circus came to Ohara."

* * *

_Hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the clock,_

_the clock struck one_

_the mouse came down,_

_hickory_

_ dickory_

_ dock. _

_I hope the ringmaster doesn't find out, it's really too late for him after all. Too late. _

_You're right, Nico Robin, of course you are. You're the crack, the flaw in the system because you got away the first time. _

_You didn't recognize us, did you? Thought you'd finally escaped? How much do you remember, I wonder, about __**those**__ performances. It's why you've been running. Damn the Marines, damn that bounty, all this time you've been running to get away from us, away from the little circus of your childhood._

_Was it the Viper, then? I can't recall where we'd come from. Where our roots started growing. Was it you, even, who found our heart on the beach? Stabbed the bloody thing to bits and woke up all the monsters._

_We come and go at will, move where we please, Marine Ford, I remember, tasted like whale blubber. We found the quiet singing in those graves tasty, tasty. _

_What I remember most, Viper, was your coming. So absolutely SCARED you were, Mirror Maze had to pin you down himself, couldn't let one like that get away._

_And you hated absolutely. Gave me reason again to remember how I was my own ringmaster, how I'd eaten Aphrodite's daughter right out of her arms, then blotted out her eyes and made her mine…! _

_What you don't know can't possibly hurt you, Bell-Viper, no no no no no…_

_They're strong, strong! And so many delicious dreams, beautiful things they won't ever be able to have! _

_Mirror Maze, do you remember the old feasts, before we were chained? _

_ How we permeated the water with blood and eyeballs and kept all the hearts in jars to feed the roaches. _

_We were always fed then._

_They're hungry now, the masses. Tentmaster hearts aren't enough, too…human! _

_It's been a long time since I ate that last Devil Fruit and lit my insides on fire._

_Portgas D. Ace, you hated everybody, everybody…_

_Do you remember those tents, how we sang to you…?_

_**When I lay me down to sleep**_

_**I pray the Lord my soul to keep**_

_**And should I die before I wake…**_

_** I pray the lord my soul to take.**_

_Were you that scared? The Lord wasn't coming for you, no one was…_

_That roach in your heart made your brother think you were dead_

_as if you could be cooked like some pig! _

_So who's in your grave now? Now the maggots woke you up eating your arms_

_and you were so afraid you weren't dead…!_

_Tentmasters only die in fire, Ace…_

_ And you helped us to burn them. _

_You know, the Viper hates you, too. _

_You and the sunken bones, the crisped bones, the chipped and hacked bones!_

_And you helped us find it,_

_ the last island. Where we'll finally, finally __**get**__ the Viper! _

_I'm a little teapot, short and stout…_

_ And here I thought the bigtop couldn't get any more crowded_

_Here is my handle, here is my spout…_

_ I'm beginning to like all this straw to line the ring with_

_When I get all steamed up, here me shout_

_ Eight in five days? They'll never make it out alive. I ate thousands all together._

_ When they're mine, I'll teach them how to sing…_

_Tip me over and pour me out! _


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, this is just a reminder for all of you. I warned at the beginning of the story that there would be character deaths. So please don't get mad when it happens. I lost a lot of readers after Brook's death. If you're not happy with it, that's fine, but don't read it in the first place when it says "character deaths" right in the synopsis.

For those of you who do still want to know how this ends, keep reading, it's starting to get creepy! Also, please please please review! To my anonymous reviewers, go you!

inloveandgivenaway: Please, I'd love to see your fanart! And anyone else's too, who feels like making some!

Natylol: I'm glad you like the story! Any guesses as to how it's going to end?

Mountain97: Please refrain from threatening to murder me on the internet, our mother didn't like that very much! Haha, awkward moments at home when your mom thinks your sister's going to kill you…

So that's all for now folks, enjoy chapter 11!

As soon as the sun came up, we ran. Brook's remains were gone by morning, taken away by beetles and tunnel beasts and one Clockie who had been curious enough to venture into the light of our fire. We'd been too scared of it, of everything, to stop it as it took away one of his ribs, holding it in its chubby, child-like hand.

I watched all night, eyes wide open, fearing another nightmare if I closed them for even a second. They were all going to come true. Luffy's death, the awful smile on his face, were inevitable. _I thought I'd gotten away from the dreams._ I felt little things leaving me, little pieces of my sanity like puzzle pieces wearing down my bones and dissipating into my blood. Every time something moved, I thought it was the Bell-Viper coming or Funhouse creeping or the still unseen Mirror Maze with a wicked, turned-down frown on his face like one you'd see on a porcelain mask, stretching down and down with fleshy lips dangling and jiggling as it walked.

When the sun rose, I woke Zoro and Nami. They sat up, Zoro grabbing a sword and driving it so hard into the tree behind us he nearly severed it.

Nami and I jumped. He looked at us, his eyes wild. "I was dreaming…" tears, real tears, filled his eyes. "Where's Chopper? I promised I'd keep him safe…!" Without waiting for us he took off through the alleyway of tents.

Nami and I looked at each other and ran after him. "Swordsman-san!" I called. I thought of conjuring extra hands to stop him, but the lacerations from the Bell-Viper's sword hadn't fully healed and my hands would have been useless. "Wait!"

"Ototo-chan?!" Zoro called as he ran. "Where are you?"

He was faster than us, and Nami and I struggled to keep up. She tripped on a tent's rope and fell. I barely paused before she was on her feet, running after Zoro again. "Wait for me! Zoro!" Nami cried, stretching out a hand to him though he did not turn around.

Suddenly, Zoro stopped dead in his tracks, looking left. He moved to pull a sword but was not fast enough. Something jumped on him from between two tents. It moved so fast we couldn't tell what it was, tackling him out of sight between two tents.

Nami screamed and I picked up speed, readying to fight the thing Zoro had managed to throw off himself and now stood facing. I stopped her before we rounded the corner, both of us bent to look around it. Zoro could see us, but the figure who stood facing him could not.

It was Nila. She held a huge knife, bloodied to the hilt, and the red blood dripped down her arm to the elbow. It streaked her face and soiled the tiny blue sequined dress she wore, the sparkles reflecting redness back.

Zoro was bleeding from a long cut in his arm, shallow but no less gruesome. Nila looked at the blood staining his shirt and arm and gasped. "I'm sorry!" she said. "I thought you were the Viper!"

"Nila! What are you doing here?" Zoro asked, sheathing his sword and taking a step closer to her.

She could not take her eyes off his bleeding arm. "Does it hurt, darling?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

Nami gasped and made to move forward, but I stopped her with a hand across her body. "Don't," I whispered. "I want to see this."

"Nila, why did you say you thought I was the Viper?"

Nila dropped her blade, hands shaking. "He's gone mad! I want to kill him!" she wept. Running to Zoro she buried her head in his chest. He glanced back at Nami, who looked hurt. I nodded, letting him know without words to allow Nila to do what she would.

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked, putting his hand on Nila's hair to comfort her.

"It used to be beautiful and fun…everything was right before Funhouse and Mirror Maze! And Merry-go-Round, that's the one that broke everything!" She cried again, and Zoro pulled her close, rocking a little.

"Shhh, Nila it's alright…why did everything change? When did the Circus become evil?"

She pulled back, that gorgeous face contorted into a look of terror and rage. "It's not _evil,_" she said. "It's good. Everybody's got to die it's just a matter of when!" Her eyes widened, her mouth bent up in a little, open-lipped grin. "It was before the Bell-Viper, I remember, I'm older than he is! We used to take the sick and weak and spin them round and round and round and then they'd just die. But the _old_ ringmaster, he wanted to make a god. Someone's got to know what's at the middle of everything, he said. The tents aren't enough, we've got to have things _under_ them…" she froze, her body shaking. From faraway the calliope began to play in a tick-tock fashion, the melody bent and rusty as old nails.

Zoro made to speak but she pressed both her blood-spattered hands to his mouth. He kept his arms around her waist, letting her quiet him, though I could see every muscle in his body itching to fight.

"Hush up! You're to naïve!" her face softened. "But so beautiful. You look like someone I knew once, a long time ago…" she moved her hands from his face. Blood stained Zoro's jawline as she put her hands on his chest.

"Tell me about the old ringmaster," he said as calmly as she could.

Nila moved her face closer to his, almost like she was looking for something there. "Oh, that dusty old bastard? He turned it dark, killed the first WaterMan's son to see what was in the middle of his heart." she put her hand on Zoro's jaw, drawing his face down to hers. "Look at me," she said.

He shut his eyes. "Tell me how the Avalon Circus came to be," he said.

The grating calliope seemed to be coming closer. Nami and I moved, standing back to back in case we needed to fight.

"_It_ crawled out of the dead man's heart. I remember I was up on the high-wire, supposed to be asleep like everybody else. The _thing_ was little and beautiful and we didn't know where it came from. It told him secrets, little songs and ways to scare people and it told him how to make Funhouse and Mirror Maze wake up. The ringmaster wanted it, the darkest power he could have and when the _It_ attached itself to his heart he laughed and laughed and everything changed and no one could remember what it was like before we let ourselves kill things, before we wanted the hate…"

"What happened to the ringmaster?" Zoro asked.

She shuddered. "You saw him! It was Lustre, the magician. Old gods will do as old gods will do and Funhouse was too hungry to let that curious man away. No, no, no that wouldn't have done at all! And then, for a long time we slept inside the _It_ and we didn't know we slept so long that all of us turned to skeletons and then to ashes and then back to living beings with roaches in our hearts and on the backs of our tongues!"

"You all died?" Zoro hissed, opening his eyes.

Nila laughed prettily, pulling him closer. "Once in service to ourselves and twice in service to the Avalon Circus!" she said coquettishly. She stepped closer to him, their bodies pressed together. "Don't you want to taste the tongue of an immortal woman, Asura?" she asked, her lips centimeters from his.

I could see he was startled by her calling him that, but he disguised it and put his hand in her hair. "I saw the gypsy die in the performance, you're not really immortal are you?" he whispered, tracing her jawline. Nami was grabbing my arm so fiercely in her anger I thought my wrist would snap.

She put her hand on his, leaning in to his touch. "I was a goddess once," she said, accentuating the movements of her lips, pressing her chest to Zoro's.

He laughed a little, tracing the line of her jaw down to her neck. "You had power," he said quietly.

"Before Merry-go-Round took it away!" she said a little indignantly, pouting prettily. Zoro's hand moved towards his swords. "Asura, you remember me from ages ago, don't you? You were so strong…" her words lingered in the air.

He whispered her name, leaning close. "Nila, where's the Bell-Viper?" he asked.

She smiled, sighing as his lips brushed her ear. "He's…at the middle of everything. With your captain and his brother at the carnival. He'll kill them all soon. And then we'll bathe together in blood, won't we Asura?"

"Why does the Bell-Viper want to kill my crew?" Zoro said, trying to disguise hatred in his voice.

"Because then he won't be alone, and then Straw Hat Luffy won't get to keep living while he's stuck in the Avalon Circus…the Bell-Viper says we'll all have jolly fun forevermore once the Straw Hats are all dead! I want the old days back, Asura, the days we used to sip pirate blood and king's blood from goblets."

"You know I'm one of the Straw Hats, don't you sweetheart? That means I'm going to die, too."

Nila put her arms around Zoro's neck, standing on her toes to reach his height. "And then we'll bathe together in _your_ blood, Asura. And then you and I will be here together forever!"

"My name's Zoro, not Asura," he said calmly. "You know that, Nila, don't you remember?"

She shook her head coyly. "Mirror Maze says he'll make a performer out of you, put strawberries in your ears to block the sound of your own screaming." she laughed. "And your captain won't be able to save you, he won't be able to save anybody because he's weak, weak and human! That's what the Bell-Viper wants, for Luffy to know he can't save anybody. That he never could. That he's going to die alone…"

"Nila-"

"Don't speak, Asura. You can't do anything to stop it. Just stay with me…you and I will watch the world crumble and grow old together while we stay young. We'll be king and queen of agelessness, beautiful until the universe stops making stars…I know you love me."

Nila leaned in and kissed Zoro, pulling his face down to hers. Shocked, Zoro wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her small body close, lifting her off her feet. I glanced at Nami. Her grip on my arm had loosened and she was crying soundlessly, her mouth open a little, trying to understand. Nila pulled back, looking Zoro in the eyes as he held her.

"Say you love me, Asura," she said passionately, leaning in to kiss him again. He submitted for an instant, setting Nila down, his hands moving from her shoulders to her waist.

This time he pulled away. "No," he said. Nila's face changed. She looked confused and hurt and then her eyes went empty as Zoro's sword slid into her ribcage all the way up to the hilt. Her body crumpled against the sharpness of the steel and the sword easily broke her ribs all the way up. Nila lay panting on the ground. "You die alone," Zoro said, jamming the sword into her throat.

Nila's body convulsed, black lifeblood gushing from the open wounds. Horribly, her corpse jittered and moved in a little circle. It came to rest and a huge cockroach, almost as big as Nila's entire body had been, erupted from her chest and shot straight at Zoro.

Nami did not hesitate a moment. She launched forward with all three pieces of the Clima-Tact in her hand and shot a bolt of lightning straight at the cockroach. It paused in the air, all its blood boiling, and then exploded into bits of dried carapace and legs and insect-blue blood. Nami and Zoro stood there, both coated in the bug's body parts.

"You asshole!" Nami shouted. "Learn how to draw your sword, cause I'm not saving you next time!" she said, panting.

Zoro looked at her, a smile on his face and in his eyes. "I love you, Nami," he said.

"Oh, don't even try that right now," she said, moving towards him with the Clima-Tact raised high above her head, ready to strike him with it or send a Tempo whizzing at him. "I'm going to-"

Zoro cut her off, grabbing the arm that was holding the Clima Tact and lowering it as he dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around her, putting his hand on her neck and kissing her deeply.

She was shocked. Her entire body froze and she raised a hand. I winced, waiting for her to slap Zoro. But her hand softened, lowered onto his shoulder, and she let him kiss her. "Cheat on me with another crazy goddess and you'll owe me more money than has ever been made!" she mumbled as he pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes with his thumbs.

He smiled at Nami, then glanced over her shoulder at me. "Oh!" he said, jumping a step away, "Robin, I'd forgotten you were there."

I smiled casually, coming out from behind the tent. I shrugged it off. "Navigator-san," I said, turning to Nami, "do you know which way the dock is?"

Her cheeks were bright red and she kept glancing at Zoro. "Um…" she cast around, looking for landmarks, her sense of direction skewed by the monotony of the tents on the island. "It's that way," she said, setting off without pausing to look at Zoro or me.

I smiled at the swordsman as he watched her walk away. Zoro did not smile back, picking up his sword and setting off after her, keeping pace with me. "At least now when we die, she'll know I love her," he said.

"You're a brave man, swordsman-san," I said, not looking at him because I was afraid of what I would see. Bug parts and blood and scars. But worst of all tears.

* * *

_DAMN YOU!_

_Bloody, bloody blood, blood_

_Bloody, bloody blood._

_YOU WON'T ESCAPE! _

_I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU OUT! _

_Tear a lover's heart out and I'll bet the other one dies, too._

_Now you have to suffer worst of all Zoro._

_You have a brother __**and**__ a lover to lose and we'll make you pay!_

_ remember what happened to the cat that ate the canary?_

_ I wrung it's fat neck, that's what! _

_ And I'll wring yours too, put my eyes in your head and you'll never know_

_ just what hit you. _

_KEEP QUIET! _

_ I know the last verse of that rhyme and you won't like it none of you will like it I'll make it up as I go along rewrite the story so it's impossible for any hope._

_One little pirate thought that death would be so kind..._

_Why is it that all nursery rhymes sound like death beating the door in?_

* * *

"Nami!" Luffy shouted, picking her up and spinning her in circles. She cursed as he spun faster and faster.

"Put me down, dumbfoot!" she said.

Luffy's eyes fell on Zoro and I. "Guys!" he exclaimed, running up to us and stretching his arms so they wrapped all the way around us.

Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and Ace came panting up behind Luffy, all looking a little worn out.

Zoro broke away from Luffy's rubbery arms and kneeled down. "Ototo-chan!" he said as Chopper ran to him.

"Oni!" Chopper laughed as Zoro stood, tossing him in the air and then setting him on his shoulder. "I missed you!"

"Oh, Nami-swan, Robin-swan," Sanji mimed, coming up and taking both of us by the hand. "I thought you were gone for good!"

"You've gotta see what we found!" Luffy was saying to Zoro, who was too busy talking with Chopper about cotton candy to notice. "It's a carnival! There's roller coasters and Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds. Where's Franky? And Brook I'll bet he'd love it! They went with you guys, didn't they? Where'd they go?" Luffy cupped his hands around his mouth and called as loudly as he could. "FRANKY! BROOK!" Birds flew from the trees, the ground shook, and I felt my hair buffeted against my face with the force of Luffy's shouting.

My eyes met Zoro's. I looked up into Ace's face. It was set, his lips a thin line.

"They went searching for you by themselves," I said to Luffy, not looking away from Ace.

Ace turned away, lowering his hat on his head.

"Oh, alright," Luffy said. "Robin, where'd you go? We thought you'd left without us or something!"

"I was with the Tentmasters underground," I said. "Captain-san, do you know where the Bell-Viper is?" I removed my hand from Sanji's and faced my captain.

"The Bell-Viper?" Luffy leaned back, thinking. In all probability he'd probably forgotten who the Bell-Viper was.

"We saw him this morning," Usopp said. "He showed us how to get into the carnival. He said you guys might be there."

"Robin, what happened to your neck? And your hands?" Chopper cried suddenly. He pulled me to sit down, taking off his bag of first-aid supplies and removing a compress and some ointment.

"Luffy, do you know where he is now?" Zoro asked.

"He's probably gone back to the big-top or the mirror maze, that's where he said he lives," Usopp said.

Chopper pressed the ointment to my neck and I hissed through my teeth, nearly crying out. Stars popped into my vision and the ointment burned fiercely. "We have to kill him," I said as best I could, letting Chopper help me lie down.

Everyone looked down at me. I felt small and isolated, like an insect where they were all giants, all significant in some way. Zoro and Nami looked at the others, nodding.

"What?" Luffy guffawed. "Robin, why's that?"

"The Circus is evil!" Nami said. "Don't you see that, Luffy? The storms I couldn't sense, the performance with that horrible monster, that bite on Robin's neck. That's from the Bell-Viper! And he hates you!"

Luffy stood in shock. Sanji and Usopp exchanged glances. "Why would the Bell-Viper hate Luffy?" Sanji asked, stepping forward to calm Nami.

Zoro answered, looking at our captain. "We can't figure that out. We've spoken to Nila, and to the fortune-teller, and neither of them could tell us why."

"Wait, what? But the Bell-Viper's been so nice to us." Luffy said, putting his hand on his head in confusion.

"Maybe it's-" Ace began.

"You stop talking!" Zoro said, drawing a sword and pointing it directly at Ace's throat. "I saw you die, I watched it happen. You've got a damned lot of explaining to do!"

Ace put his hands up as if in surrender. "I explained this to Luffy and the others while you were off looking for little miss runaway Robin," he gestured to me. Zoro refused to back down. With a sigh, Ace unbuttoned the loose black shirt he wore. "I didn't die. Look, no scar." His long, muscular torso came into view as he took the short-sleeved shirt off. The skin was perfect, unblemished, as thought Akainu had never struck him at all.

"Then who the hell was that at marine ford?" Zoro asked, stepping closer to Ace.

"Still me," Ace said. "But you really think I could die? I ate the Mera Mera no Mi fruit. I'm made of fire, Akainu's fist had no effect on me."

"But…" Nami said, "we watched you die! We all cried for you! How could you do that to Luffy, let him believe you were dead like that?"

"And how the hell did you end up here?" Zoro said. This isn't exactly close to marine ford, from what I can tell!"

"Although your sense of direction is nothing to go by," Sanji mumbled.

Zoro flashed him a look that probably would have killed any regular person.

Ace turned to Luffy with a smile. "Is this really necessary, brother?" he asked.

"No," Luffy said, stepping up to Zoro. "Ace is my brother. We can trust him. You keep your secrets, too. Don't expect him to give up all of his."

Zoro met Luffy's eyes challengingly. For a second it looked like he would strike the captain.

"Boys!" Nami said sternly, stepping between them. She turned to Ace. "Whatever your reasons are, and however you got here, doesn't matter. What does matter is if you'll help us. Robin says that in order to get out we need to find the Bell-Viper and get rid of him. Can you tell us where he is?"

Ace's eyes narrowed and he looked Nami up and down. Then his expression returned to normal. "Of course. He'll be at the carnival this time of day, probably near the Ferris wheel or seeing to the building of the new roller coaster." He turned to look at me. "Are you okay to stand?"

"Yes," I replied.

"NO!" Chopper said. "Robin, do you have any idea how much blood you've lost? And how long's it been since you slept?" he asked.

I looked away, unable to answer.

"That's what I thought," Chopper said firmly, putting his hands on his hips and turning to Ace. "She can't walk yet. So unless you want to leave her, we're staying here."

"Chopper," I said lightly, "I'm fine." I tried to smile and sit up.

He wheeled on me, pointing as best he could with his hoof. "You stay still or I'll give you sleeping medicine and you _really_ won't be going anywhere."

Ace put his hand in his hair. "I'd hate to see the Bell-Viper get away from you guys, maybe I should go look for him. I mean, since I live here I know where he'll be."

"No!" Luffy said. "You can't go off alone, that's dangerous. I mean, if you get hurt or something." Luffy looked hurt, reaching out to touch Ace on the shoulder. "I don't want you to be gone again," he said.

Ace's face lit up and he clapped his brother on the back. "Come with me!" he said. "It'll be just like old times, we'll go on an adventure!"

Luffy nodded vigorously. "Yes! That's a great idea!" he turned to the rest of us. "You guys stay here with Robin and Ace and I will go look for the Bell-Viper. We'll be back before the sun goes down!"

"Wait!" Nami, Sanji, and I called in unison. But the brothers had taken off running, already racing towards the carnival whose tallest points we could see gleaming metallically in the morning air. Yesterday's storm hung heavily about the sky, clouds bunched in blue-grey heaps all around the tents and hills of the Avalon Circus.

"Someone please remind me why we let him be captain?" Nami fumed, coming to sit beside me. The area we'd found the rest of our crew in was a long, grassy field where the tents were smaller and not as dark inside. Nami laid her head on a small hillock, plucking a wildflower from beside her and twirling the stem in her fingers. One of the tiny red butterflies flew out from the blossom and she watched it fly, tracing the movements with her eyes.

"Nami-swan, sometimes I wonder the same thing," Sanji said exhaustedly, sitting down with his back against an outer pole of one of the tents near us.

"Is Luffy going to be alright, Robin?" Chopper asked, taking out another vial of ointment to apply to my hands.

The stick-bone calliope continued to play, and in its tune I heard over and over the words _marked for death, marked for death_. "I don't know," I said.

Zoro lay down beside Nami, taking the flower gently from her hand and tucking it behind her ear. "What do you know then, Robin?" he looked at me. "You said the Circus came to Ohara when you were a girl. Want to tell us about that?" Zoro's tone was slightly accusatory and slightly angry.

"What?!" Sanji and Usopp said in unison. "You know this place?" Sanji asked. "How is it that you know everything? Literally, everything."

I sat up, ignoring Chopper's gentle pressure on my arm to keep me still. My hands rested in my lap as he tended to them. "When I was a girl, a merchant ship came to our island. Ohara was far away from everything, not many people frequented the trade routes. So when it came everybody ran out to meet the ship. It was huge, the biggest I've ever seen, called _The Avalon Maiden_. And it brought with it the worst storm Ohara ever saw. For days no one could leave their homes. Windows were broken, crops completely decimated, disease from the rats that started biting people for food ran between us. When it was over, there gleamed the Avalon Circus just as perfect as you and I first saw it. Only it was smaller, much smaller, only a big-top and some carnival rides. And we flocked to it because everything we had was destroyed. I was too young to remember, but the older children told stories of how the Circus saved us, offering food and performances, drawing us in with the calliope."

"But if you've seen it before, why didn't you recognize it now?" Nami asked.

I shook my head. "The Avalon Circus on Ohara didn't hurt anybody, and there weren't Clockies. And I met the ringmaster, it wasn't the Bell-Viper. I remember when I saw him, I'd lost my way home and wandered into the Circus because I had nowhere to go. I was crying, and I nearly stumbled over his boots. When I looked up at him, I realized the old ringmaster must have been from Ohara. He could almost have been my brother he was so young, with the same dark hair and eyes all my people had. He helped me find my way out and then asked what my name was. I told him, and then he promised within the next week I would be able to be a part of the show, that I'd see the greatest performance on earth." I stopped, horrified at the memories that clung coldly to my skin.

"What happened?" Sanji said quietly, his cigarette limp as a dead worm in his hand.

"Six days later Ohara was blown to pieces. I only just managed to escape…" memories hit me like shrapnel and I stopped, needing to catch my breath. I filled my mind with the pain of the bandages Chopper was wrapping around my hands, forcing my mind to calm. "It was so sudden. I thought the Circus must have been blown apart too, but the whole time I was sailing away alone, I could hear the calliope repeating and repeating the same little phrase of melody, like the Circus was laughing at me…laughing at Ohara's pain…!"

Sanji scooted close to me, leaning my head against his shoulder and putting his arm around me. My eyes were frozen open on the scene that was perfectly implanted in my memory, the lies I'd told my crew mates, that Ohara was destroyed for no reason. "It was because the ringmaster hated us," I continued. "I think some of the older women recognized him as a man from the village I came from, who'd died too soon in an unfair fight over the woman he loved."

Sanji felt me shudder and pulled me close, rubbing his hand against my arm to keep me warm. "Robin, why didn't you warn us?" he asked. The twinge of doubt in his voice was terrible. I looked up into his face and saw a sliver of distrust marked there.

My heart broke as I scrambled for words, for a way to justify myself for uncommitted crimes. "I didn't recognize it when we got here. It wasn't until Mirror Maze woke up that I remembered anything."

"Mirror Maze?" Usopp asked, a worried expression on his face. "What the hell is Mirror Maze? Is it like Funhouse? Cause I couldn't handle two of those!"

I looked at him blandly and he spoke no more. "Mirror Maze is a god, an old one. And so is Funhouse. The Circus existed before they were part of it, but it's been gaining power since an old ringmaster conjured them into it by killing a man in the Circus. There's a third, called Merry-go-Round and it's the oldest of all. It's the part of the circus that can move. But we don't know where it is, or even what it is." I paused, turning my head at a sharp movement behind me. It was a large frog, brown and warty, and it paused between the tents to look back at me out of lidless eyes before continuing on its way.

The silence was tense. Chopper packed away his medical supplies and went to lay beside Zoro, his arms outstretched and little, determined face turned to the sky.

"I think I know what it is," Zoro said. We all turned to look at him. He remained still, holding his hand up to the sky as though he could see through it or touch something the rest of us couldn't see. "It's that little horse the Bell-Viper wears around his neck. The thing he talks to, to make things happen. "

Processes of thought whirred into my brain and I began to calculate and confirm what I had learned, justifying it with all the strange occurrences and Ace's untimely appearance. "I think you're right, Zoro," I said, crossing my legs and sitting up straighter. "It must grant the ringmaster temporary control over the Circus to use for his own purposes."

"On what condition?" Zoro asked.

I shuddered. "There's one thing I keep hearing, from Brook and then from Nila, and in my head in a dream. You know what I mean? They all say 'I died once in service to myself and twice in service to the Circus.' That means the ringmaster must sell his soul, or his hatred, to the Circus to fuel it."

"Well," Sanji said nonchalantly, "sounds like the Circus Avalon is more dangerous than we thought. Why'd it choose to pick a fight with us, though?" He smiled. "Could mean the end of it, if Luffy, Marimo, and I have anything to say about it."

I put my hand on Sanji's arm. "Chef-san, calm down. There's still so much we don't know. The Circus has ways of manipulating people. It has the power to destroy us all, no matter how powerful we are."

"Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to give a fucked up circus and its crazyass ringmaster that kind of power?" Sanji said.

"You're taking this too lightly, shit-for-brains," Zoro countered. "You don't know what Nami, Robin, and I saw. What we've heard."

"Our coming here was foretold by the gypsies before we were even born!" Nami exclaimed. "And the Circus knows all our weaknesses, how to break us."

"And that calliope marks us for death," I said, nodding inland, where the sound was coming most strongly from.

Sanji's face had gone serious. "Well that's just great," he said.

"It can't kill us though, can it?" Usopp asked nervously, chewing on a fingernail. "I mean, we're all fine now aren't we? The Merry's just in the harbor if we need to leave. It'll be okay."

"No, Usopp, it won't," Nami said.

"Not until we find the Bell-Viper and destroy him. If we do that before he kills Luffy then the Circus's goal goes unfulfilled and it has no more power. Nothing to feed on."

_The hungry will always find a feast…_

The voice echoed through the air, an intangible force stronger than thunder yet more subtle, more permeating. We all looked around.

"That's the kind of power I mean," I whispered, unable to raise my voice for fear someone was listening. "It'll get into your mind, kill you slowly, that way."

_The Funhouse's got one exit, and it's all the way through at the end…_

Usopp and the rest of the crew were looking wildly about, trying to find the source of the voice, shielding their faces from the tiny, mist-like raindrops that were beginning to fall.

"You've got to ignore it," I said. "Or else you're going to die. That's the mistake Brook made, he let it in too far!"

Sanji's face snapped down, an expression of disbelief boring through me. "Brook? Did you say Brook did that?" he asked, his cigarette falling from his lips onto the grass, where it smoldered into deadness. "Where is he now?"

I looked away, but Sanji's pleading eyes entreated me to return their stare. I opened my mouth to speak but found words tasted like parchment, dry and stuck to the roof of my mouth.

"Brook and Franky-" Sanji began, choking on his words. "They're dead, aren't they?" he asked.

"Yes, chef-san," I said coolly, doing my best to keep tears from my voice.

"Shit!" Sanji whispered under his breath, pulling away and standing, his back turned to us, hand gripping the hair above his left temple.

"What?" Chopper cried. "Oni…?" he turned to look at Zoro, his large eyes looking lost. "I thought you could keep everybody safe…"

Zoro's hand fell over his eyes. "I tried, Ototo-chan," he whispered hoarsely. "And I failed."

Chopper stood, putting his hands over his ears. "No!" he said. "No, no, no pirates can't die! Pirates are brave and strong, we're invincible!" he turned to me, tears running down his cheeks. "Aren't we, Robin?"

I shook my head. "No, doctor-san, we're not."

Chopper sat down in the grass, too shocked to move. "We're going to die here…" he said quietly, his voice breaking to splinters in his throat. He leaned his head back and screamed, the sound from the bottom of his too many times broken heart. "Come back!" he wailed. "Brook! Franky! COME BACK!"

Zoro winced at every syllable. "Stop it, Chopper!" he said sternly.

Chopper wheeled on Zoro, almost exactly his height when Zoro was sitting. "No! No, they're still here I know it. They're just hiding." Chopper ran to the nearest tent, poking his head inside. "Guys this isn't funny," he said. "Franky? Come out, come out wherever you are. I'm tired of hide and seek!" Chopper ran from tent to tent, looking under folds of fabric, behind corners, between blades of grass. "Where are you?" he whimpered.

I opened my arms and Chopper ran into them, sobbing against my chest. His little frame was like a child's, so fragile and precious. I rocked back and forth, doing my best to comfort him. Nobody spoke, I could sense the haze of tears hanging around Sanji, Usopp, and Nami. Zoro had spent his tears and sat looking sadly at Chopper.

"Is there any hope?" Sanji asked. "You said it was foretold…what did the story say?" His voice was thin as a fraying silk thread, the tears there held back only by inner strength.

_No,_ I thought. _No, there is no hope._ "If we destroy the Bell-Viper, if we beat the Circus. We're strong, it could work."

Sanji laughed bitterly. "Alright, Robin. Whatever you say."

"Don't tell Luffy yet, about Brook and Franky," I said, glancing first at Usopp and then at Sanji.

They both nodded. "We'd better go find him, right?" Sanji said, looking away towards the carnival, where Ace and Luffy had vanished. "He could get hurt all alone."

"He's not alone," Usopp said. "Ace's with him, right?"

"You think that means he's safe?" Zoro said coldly.

"My thoughts exactly, Marimo." Sanji replied, taking a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. The flame on his lighter fizzled and popped in the rain. Sanji smiled bitterly. "If I've got to die, it might as well be fighting hadn't it? The Bell-Viper's mortal. Scary as hell, but mortal. We can beat him, can't we?" Sanji turned to Zoro, helping him to his feet. Nami followed, leaning against Zoro's chest.

I stood, holding Chopper in one arm. "Yes, the Viper is mortal until his hatred is fulfilled. If we get him before he gets Luffy then we're safe. But everything in the Circus will be after us now we've figured it out, now we've said it out loud."

"Even better," Sanji laughed. "Now I think we're long past due at the carnival, wouldn't you guys say?"

* * *

_You may think nothing's changing, that you've learned nothing new…_

_but you're learning it all and I don't like birds that know everything. _

_Too many sharp places. _

_Clockies were just the beginning and you, Robin dearest, you were the first one!_

_Clowns and fire-eaters, the strong man and the contortionist are my puppets._

_Merry-go-Round…_

_ Nobody's called me that in centuries. I think I forgot my name._

_But I'll never forget yours, you clever little singing birds._

_Usopp, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Luffy, Robin._

_Your hair was soft when you were a girl, Robin. So lovely to touch._

_ Do you remember that? The time you were in the dark in all those reflections of yourself? _

_Keep running backwards and eventually you end up just where you started._

_The Viper may hate Luffy, but you, Robin-san, are the true prize. _

_You are the one __**I**__ hate._

* * *

The carnival wasn't as massive as it seemed from far away. The roller coasters and drop ride and games seemed almost punitive. There was no one inside at all when we walked in the gates, and all the lights were off except for in one booth. A tinny whistling came from there and, ready to fight and no less determined, we followed it.

The man minding the stand seemed regular at first. His face was small and triangular, his limbs oddly proportioned and his body quick and light. He stood behind his counter whistling, rocking his hips back and forth to the beat of a tune he tapped on the counter with his fingers. As we walked up, the man straightened, his posture oddly slumped. His skin was all shades of brown.

"Ah, clever little bright human beings!" he said, folding his fingers before his mouth and laughing, his whole frame shaking with the gesture.

The hair on the back of my neck rose. "Have you seen the ringmaster?" I asked.

The man inhaled deeply then let his breath out, his shoulders sinking and his head cocking to the side. "You'd be looking the same as the others, then?"

Zoro stepped forward. "Look, circus freak, if you know anything then tell us!" he said, slamming his fist on the table.

The man's face turned icy and he surged forward, leaning his whole frame far out, putting his eye right up to Zoro's. The swordsman froze, refusing to back down. "You look like a man who understands the value of killing well!" he said loudly. His fingers went back to drumming, his head nodding back and forth in time. He continued in a sing-song voice. "Want to get to the other side? You've got to trade me something first! Play my game. Win and we'll talk! Lose and…well, you get a prize anyway! That's the fun of the circus, strawberries trade like gold or coal, good for good and evil for evil."

Zoro pushed the man away. He fell back a little, in surprise. "What's your damn game?" he asked. "We'll win it."

The man laughed in that gasping, breathy way again. He smiled wanly, all his teeth showing. Reaching under the counter, he pulled a lever and the back wall of his stall turned around. A gigantic black and white spiral was painted there, and it spun around and around at a brisk speed. There were occasional dots of color painted on the black sections and miniscule holes in the white parts.

Looking at the thing too long made both Nami and I stumble, and we leaned against the counter, our heads in our hands. The man's laugh was audible like a rasping cough. "Your lady friends seem to understand the value of this game!" he said. Looking up, I saw him slam five knives onto the table, their points digging half an inch into the wood. "You get five chances to hit three colored dots. If you don't, you lose. If you lose a knife through one of the holes, you lose. If you miss the spiral entirely, you lose." The man paused, his fingers drumming more quickly. "And if you walk away now, you lose!" He clicked his tongue and licked his lips, chuckling under his breath.

Careful not to look at the spiral again, I turned to the men. "So who's going to play it?" I asked.

They looked at each other and then back at me. "You really think this is a good idea?" Usopp asked.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "And I think you should do it. You're the best sniper we have, you'll do fine."

Usopp's brow furrowed as he looked in uncertainty at the spinning dart board. "What if I lose?" he said nervously.

Zoro pushed him forward to where the knives waited. "He said we still get a prize anyway. Come on, we need to find Luffy and Ace before the Bell-Viper finds them. Knowing Luffy he'll run up and give the ringmaster a hug and it sounds like that would be counterproductive to surviving this damned place. So do what you know how to do and throw those damn knives!"

Usopp stood facing Zoro, uncertainty on his face. The force in the swordsman's eyes offered no compromise. Usopp took another reluctant step forward. Looking at the booth manager he said "I'll play," in a choked voice.

The man brought his rat-like hands up to his face and laughed again. "Perfect…! Now here's the rules, every time you hit a dot, you get to ask me one question. I know all the answers." The man frowned, his lips still open, teeth still glowing dully in the clouded air. "But here's the deal, ask a question I don't like and you lose!"

"Seems like there's no way to win this game," Usopp said.

The man's frame jiggled with another laugh. "Oh, that's the fun! One way in and a million ways out. Now throw your first and we'll see what your answer will be!"

I watched through half-closed eyes, my fists clenched hard as Usopp lined up his throw. Taking a deep breath he let the knife go. It whizzed straight into the middle of a blue dot, burying itself deep. The booth's owner spun in a little circle, throwing his hands up. "You win round one!" he said. Leaning forward, whistling through his teeth, he spoke again. "Now ask your question!"

Usopp looked at me. I stared at the man, his strange, slightly skewed features seemed almost to be melting. "How long have you been traveling with the circus?" I asked.

The man's eyes roved dramatically to me and he leaned his limp cheek on his arm. "Good question!" His eyes rolled around in their sockets. "I've been here five hundred and forty three years, nine months, two weeks, and nine days."

I opened my mouth to ask another question but the man leaned towards me, pressing a finger to his lips. "Shush! You ask another question before he throws a knife and you lose!"

We all watched Usopp carefully. He lined up his throw, closing one eye to better aim. The blade slammed right against the edge of a green dot. The man behind the booth's jaw dropped. "Two in a row! You're king of this game surely!"

He looked at me. I thought hard, listening to the wheel spin behind me, to my crew's breathing, to Usopp's fingers scraping against the booth's wooden counter. "How long ago did the Bell-Viper come to the circus?"

The man's eyes roved in his head. He slammed his palm against the side of his face like he was jogging memories. I heard his jaw click out of place and when he turned to smile at me, the grin was lopsided and broken. "That one I almost can't answer! The ringmaster's young, less than twenty years sure. But he runs the circus like he's known how for centuries."

I kept quiet, processing, as Usopp lined up his third throw. It went just wide of a red dot. We all did our best not to sigh as beads of sweat formed on Usopp's forehead. He wiped his hand on his pants and picked up the fourth knife. It found its mark in a red dot.

So many questions were biting at my tongue it was hard to sort the words out to form just one. "Why is the circus determined to destroy the Straw Hat pirate crew?" I asked eagerly.

The smiling man's face devolved from a grin to a frown, his lips open, teeth all askew in his broken jaw.

_Bye baby Bunting, daddy's gone a-hunting_ the odd not-voice echoed from somewhere.

The man's eyes settled on Usopp, his hands jittered onto the tabletop, long fingers splayed at unnatural angles. "You lose," he said.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey guys, just a warning for you, this next chapter is pretty dark! I mean, the whole thing is dark but this one gets pretty sad and creepy, too. But don't lose heart and please continue reading!

Thank you for those of you who reviewed last week! I got some pretty interesting guesses about what the end will be. As it starts coming to a close, I hope you all are satisfied! It'll probably be only another seven chapters until this is over, and I can't believe it! My sister made me promise to write a bunch of adorable one shots of this story ending well after I'm done breaking all your hearts with character deaths! So watch for those, too.

If anybody has any suggestions for other stories, let me know cause I'm looking for something new to write!

We stood in tense silence, the weight of the invisible voice and the calliope that was moving so close it seemed to be just behind me was unbearable.

The carnival man's frown remained, large and annunciated and unnatural. He narrowed his eyes. Every one of us was tense as he bent below the counter to retrieve something. I heard Zoro's hand clench around the hilt of his sword. Chopper, still sniffling and looking fearfully around, took a rumble ball from his bag just in case we needed to fight.

The carnival man started whistling again as he reemerged. Brushing the oily black hair from his face he laid a bright blue box on the counter.

"What's this?" Usopp asked nervously.

The man hit the button to stop the great pinwheel from turning. Usopp's knives came to sliding halts. The carnival man's voice slid even and toneless into the air around us. "I told you you'd still get a prize if you lost," he said. "Open it."

"Usopp, don't!" I moved forward to grab his arm as he reached for the box. He turned to look at me and I was relieved to see no hint of the circus in his eyes. His arm relaxed and he took a step away from the box.

"I don't want it," he said, meeting the other man's eyes evenly.

The carnival man cocked his head to one side, his eyes still narrow. That odd frown had deserted his face and his lips jittered in odd patterns like he was trying to speak. "But you _lost_ good sir. You asked the wrong question!"

I stepped forward. "He asked nothing, I did. If you want someone to have the prize, I'll take it."

Before I could touch the box, the man's hand slammed down on it hard. "No!" He turned his head to look at Usopp. "You played, you have to take the prize."

"What if he doesn't?" I asked.

The man's laugh sliced through the air, off-beat and shaking. The calliope was circling around, pacing as though it were a dog. "There's still one knife left and I guarantee you I'm the damned finest shot on this island. Leave and you die."

I looked at Usopp. Sweat was beading his forehead and his nose was quivering. He kept licking his lips agitatedly, as though he were trying to understand something. He set his shoulders. "I'll take it," he said.

"Usopp, don't be stupid," Sanji. said, stepping up beside us. "We don't know what's in that box. Now the circus knows what we're up to it's not about to let us get away."

Usopp looked up at him, his eyes full of sadness and apprehension. "Sanji, I've been a coward all my life. No, just listen!" He held up a hand as Sanji moved to speak. "I'm not as brave as Luffy or as strong as you and Zoro or as useful as Chopper and Nami or as smart as Robin. From the beginning I've just been an extra…"

"That's not true!" Nami protested, her voice high and uneven. "We love you, Usopp, you're our nakama."

"Remember all the fun we've had?" Chopper said, stepping up to take Usopp's hand.

Usopp looked down at the doctor, his eyes filling with tears. "What if it's all a lie?" he whispered hoarsely.

"What are you talking about?" I asked gently. Behind me the carnival man was nodding his head back and forth, whistling his tuneless little song. I had the urge to turn around and throttle him, to make him shut up.

Usopp paused, looking up. He closed is eyes and hummed along with the calliope for a few seconds. "I've spent my whole life lying. So long I can't remember the truth. When we got here I could tell something was wrong, I almost told you guys I didn't want to go in at all…" his voice broke. "But I was too scared even to say that! I let you down, I lied to you again, and because of that we're all stuck on this godforsaken circus! I let you guys down, I've always let you down…"

"Usopp, shut up," Zoro said. "We're a crew! You're nothing extra, you're one of us! Straw Hats forever, right?"

Usopp turned to him. "Of course, Zoro," he said with a weak smile. He turned to look at me. There was still no circus in his eyes.

"Usopp, what are you saying?" I said.

"You called me by my name…" he remarked, smiling at the ground. When he looked up at me his shoulders were shaking, his mouth set against fear. "I'm not going to be scared anymore. If this is what we have to do to move forward and find Luffy and the Viper, to fight, then I'll do it." He turned to the carnival man, whose eyes were roving in little patterns in his head as he whistled and rocked his hips back and forth.

I almost thought I saw the man smile as Usopp reached for the blue box, pulled it towards him, and opened it.

First, the calliope erupted. The sing-song melody had words, I could finally hear, and the voice that sang them was thin and incapacitating, high like breath. Before Usopp could move back or draw a weapon to fight, something lighter than air and bullet-quick darted from the box with an enormous cry.

The inevitability of the attack on Usopp had occurred to Zoro and I before he'd even opened the box. Zoro had drawn two swords and I was already moving to help when the thing's tentacle-like arms slammed into us.

I looked up into Franky's broken, eyeless face. His open mouth slavered wildly, spittle and blood dripping onto my face. With a cry, I pushed him off, darting to my feet. Franky was gone in an instant and in his place was my mother, her hand reaching out to take mine. "Robin…" she said.

In the moment I paused, Sanji kicked my mother straight in the chest. There was time for me to see her frown a little before her body vanished. The calliope, loud in our ears, pounded against the walls of the stall where the carnival man stood twirling limp arms in little circles, his hands flapping as he laughed.

My mother was gone and in her place stood a slight girl with black hair and large eyes. "My love," she said, extending a hand to Zoro.

"Kuina!" he cried, running towards her.

Suddenly the girl's body split into four parts, all smiling and pleading with their eyes. They surrounded Zoro. I moved to help him when a large hand wrapped around the back of my neck and jerked me backwards. It was Crocodile, a hideous smile on his face. He squeezed my jaw so tightly I felt something pop in my face and sparks of bright light flew into my vision.

Rebelling against unconsciousness, I kicked out with both feet, forcing the image of Crocodile away from me. Backing away a step, I found Nami just behind me fighting a perfectly replicated image of a woman with long hair and similar eyes to her own. Nami's head whipped around as she backed into me, but she smiled a little as she saw me, the light of adventure in her eyes.

Crocodile came charging at me and I dodged out of the way, watching in my peripheral vision as Sanji and Zoro struck at the same time from opposite directions. The big, gross man's body froze and I was sure he would fall. No human being could survive such an attack. Blood spurted from Crocodile's mid-section as Zoro and Sanji collided in the middle, swearing at one another as they jumped up and rounded on three of the identical Kuinas, who were moving in lightning-quick zigzag patterns towards them.

The deafening calliope crashed across my brain so hard my ears rang. _Little baby Bunting, daddy's gone a hunting. Gone to find a rabbit skin to put the baby Bunting in!_ the unmerciful voice chanted in gnashing tones over and over again, to the carnival rhythm of the harshly-toned music.

A scream ripped across the plane of hearing. I jumped and wheeled around to find Usopp, still trying to fight, pinned to a wall by a pretty teenager. She smiled at him, her arms around his throat.

"Usopp!" Nami screamed. She dealt a huge blow to the woman she was facing and wheeled to defend our friend, following Chopper's lead. I watched Nami's adversary stagger, her neck clearly broken. Then, as if nothing had happened, she cracked her head back to the proper position and threw her hands to the sky, her bare arms almost reflective in the settling storm.

All the bodies, the four Kuinas and the now severed Crocodile, as well as a group of small deer that had been attacking Chopper, vanished. Their particles, vaguely colored in the air, flew to the woman and struck her in the chest. She did not even stumble.

In an instant of stupidity I turned with the rest of my crew to aid Usopp. The girl who had been holding him shuddered as the remnants of the other bodies slammed into her chest. Her whole body flashed silver as she turned to look at us. Her eyes were huge and black, lidless like a snake's.

Zoro and Sanji's fighting instincts were quickest and they tore through the twenty feet between us and the girl in less than a second. But almost faster than I could process, she raised her hand and three gigantic cylinders of what looked like glass shot directly at Sanji and Zoro. Both were caught in the stomach and thrown back into the rest of us. Zoro's body broke my fall as we tumbled. The girl laughed, the sound low and reverberating. Somewhere I processed the carnival man's own cheering, his giddy exaltations.

We were all back on our feet in just seconds. My ribs ached, and as I breathed I could feel the sharp places where bruises would form over the fractures in my ribs. Beside me, Nami was coughing deeply, little moans of pain escaping with every exhale.

Zoro again made to run at the girl, but with a casual lift of her elbow, like a dancer might, her glass cylinders became sheets of falling particles at least a hundred feet high, surrounding us in a wall of falling glass three feet thick.

The girl's form began to shift, her body becoming pudgy and alien, the legs short and chubby-kneed, a child's. The little figure wore no clothes and appeared genderless, the skin all smooth and unblemished as a baby doll's. The shoulders and arms were short and a little misshapen, the skin all over translucent and still perfect as porcelain. With every shift in the light, you could see organs pulsing vaguely beneath the skin. Unnoticeable, like a casual secret, but permeating and _there._ And above the shoulders, where a head and neck should have been, where I hoped for some sort of human face, something to link this horrible being to myself, floated an enormous, faceless, and perfectly red strawberry.

It glowed sickeningly in the light, and as the thing turned its body to face us, the strawberry remained static and unchanged, the little seeds winking like eyes as the shoulders readjusted underneath it.

"Mirror Maze!" the carnival man shouted, clapping his hands together and jumping up and down.

The strawberry snapped to look at him, rolling a little like a poorly constructed marionette. The baby-bodied thing stretched out a hand in greeting. Lips formed in the strawberry. Large, red, and fleshy lips with big square teeth and a hard, muscular tongue between them. "Good morning," it said, licking those lips. Saliva pooled at the mouth's corner as it turned to look at us.

"Mirror…Maze…" I croaked. The thing before me was so alien, so strange and distorted, that Funhouse suddenly seemed trivial, the Bell-Viper no more out of the ordinary than a regular snake.

The big teeth ground together. "Good morning," it said again, a little ironically, it seemed.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Sanji whispered, his voice hoarse with fear.

"And how do we get Usopp away from it?!" Zoro yelled. Without waiting for a reply he charged straight at the wall of falling glass, sword raised in reckless hope.

Mirror Maze raised a stubby-fingered hand and glass erupted at Zoro, tearing lacerations all over his face and body. His already dirtied shirt was torn to shreds, the bandana gouged from his head. Shards stuck in his cheeks and muscular arms. He cried out, blood gushing from him as he dropped his swords instinctively. Chopper gasped and immediately ran to Zoro's aid.

Mirror Maze considered Sanji, Nami, and I. "Come to see the show?" it asked. "Or come to be in it?" The strawberry-head twitched. "Good morning," it chuckled.

There was nothing to say, no way to reply to such a hideous thing. Usopp was pinned to the wall behind it by shards of the same glass that surrounded us. It floated in a tiny cloud all around his body, forcing him to stay still. As we watched, cuffs of it bolted against his skin, making him bleed and keeping him pinned to the wall as the glass became liquid and simmered over his skin.

"Think…think I'll…thi-think I'll kill him s-s-slowly!" Mirror Maze said, its inhuman voice colliding with the air around us. The stutter was like a broken television screen, a scattered message in imperfect, unrelenting tones.

"No!" Sanji said fervently. He ran at the wall. "I won't let you take my nakama!"

Glass so narrowly missed Sanji's eye that it severed his eyelid. The fragile skin hung in a limp flap over his right socket. In shock, Sanji could not even scream as he pressed his hand to the wound, trying to hold his peeling skin in place. There was so much blood it gushed over his hands, totally soiling his white shirt. The cigarette fell from his mouth and crunched underfoot as he tottered a few steps before falling.

"Hah, hah, ha-ha-hah!" Mirror Maze teased, the laugh as breathless and stuttering as the speech. "You..you don't se-seem to get-to get it," it said. The strawberry swiveled more wildly on its pivotal point on the child body. "You don't k-k-know what I am!"

"You're a goddamn dead man, that's what you are!" came a voice from deeper in the carnival.

Without warning, Luffy was suddenly throwing himself full-force at Mirror Maze, his fist ready to make meaty refuse out of the strawberry head.

The lips hung in the air as the rest of Mirror Maze vanished. "Straw Hat Luffy?!" It exclaimed. "What a-what-what an honor!"

Luffy, skidding from the force of his last blow, rounded on the gigantic lips, his arm stretching to collide with them directly. Mirror Maze did not even flinch as it opened its mouth, engulfing Luffy's whole arm.

Our captain's face froze in horror as the teeth closed around his muscles, becoming serrated like a shark's and tearing into his flesh. Somehow unshaken, Luffy, with a tremendous cry of pain, launched his other fist, along with the rest of his body, at the floating lips. They shut tight and vanished, tearing an enormous chunk of Luffy's flesh as they went. The curtain of glass stopped and tumbled towards the ground. Sanji jumped to cover Nami and I from the falling shards and Zoro protected Chopper, his bleeding body smearing the little reindeer's fur with redness.

It was only a second that Mirror Maze was gone before it reshaped itself and Blackbeard, Akainu, Crocodile, Arlong, and Rob Lucci stood before us.

"What the-" Zoro had time to say before the five of them launched themselves at us.

Akainu and Luffy met halfway in the distance between them. Dodging a red-hot blow, Luffy surged up and elbowed Akainu so hard in the stomach he flew thirty feet in the air and crashed into a tent, knocking it to the ground. Akainu was only a second recovering, and as he emerged from the wreckage, it was clear he had grown. His body was nearly ten feet tall, his gross, piggish face all smiles as he charged Luffy again.

Arlong ran at Nami and I. She was quick and dodged while piecing the Clima-Tact together to launch a tempo straight at him. Seeing what she aimed to do, I jumped up to kick Arlong off-balance with both feet to his ribcage. My feet went straight through him and the thunderbolt from Nami's Clima-Tact collided with my left leg. Arlong was gone and I lay in a sea of fizzling pain, the skin on my left side felt electric and unmovable.

Nami screamed and bent over me, shaking my shoulders and speaking though I could discern no words. A second later, Crocodile was upon her, hitting her hard in the stomach. She flew a few yards away but landed on her feet, skidding in the dirt and barely pausing before she launched a cloud of heat balls at Crocodile. The first struck him in the chest. Large and powerful enough that it would have knocked even the members of our crew to the ground, it barely touched Crocodile. The others followed, bouncing off his body as he crossed his arms before his face and they became reflective, bouncing the air off them.

One of the most powerful hit Sanji as he spun to kick Rob Lucci in the face. It knocked him off balance and in an instant Lucci shifted to become the odd leapord-man hybrid and jumped on Sanji. He nearly had time to tear our cook's throat out before Chopper in Monster Point bellowed and ran straight at Lucci, stepping directly on him with one massive hoof.

Lucci hissed, his body dissipating. He reappeared in a hybrid form nearly as massive as Chopper's and took off running up the hill towards the center of the island. Enraged, Chopper bolted after him, his long, powerful strides nearly keeping pace with the leopard.

Blackbeard was barely holding Zoro off as the swordsman swung again and again, his long and practiced blows missing only because his adversary kept shifting size and shape by the second. I forced myself to stand, the pain ripping through me incredible, and stumble-ran as best I could towards Zoro, aiming to help him however I could.

Luffy got there before I did, charging a rocket fist aimed straight at Blackbeard's face. The fist made harsh contact and I heard bones crunch. Blackbeard's head spun in a full circle and came to a tottering rest facing Luffy. Two of Zoro's swords came straight through the back of Blackbeard's head in a moment of distraction. But he overshot as Blackbeard's body disappeared and instantaneously transported itself to face Sanji a few feet away. Zoro's swords cut deep into Luffy's chest and shoulder, burying almost as deeply as our captain's heart. Luffy coughed up blood but wrenched Zoro's swords from his body and turned to jump on Akainu, whose arms and legs had grown unnaturally long in the minute we'd been distracted. He spun in large circles, those limbs threatening to punch through any of us.

Crocodile jumped at me and I created four clones of myself, each running in different directions with the intent of confusing him. Arlong took a swing at my real body, but I spun and dodged away, daring to run into a tent. Arlong followed me and in the small, confined darkness he seemed huger than ever.

"You'll kill each other," he said in Mirror Maze's voice. "Sa-sa-save me the trouble-trouble!"

Outside there were shouts from Nami and Sanji. Luffy's fist exploded through the side of the tent, only barely colliding with Arlong instead of me. The Mirror Maze's laughter ricocheted between the five enemies we fought. Outside I could hear the sounds of battle, though Arlong had disappeared. I limped hurriedly out to where the fighting was and saw my crewmates standing in confused dazes.

At first I thought it might be pain of blood loss affecting my brain, but I shook my head to clear it and the images did not disappear. Twenty Luffys, thirty Zoros and at least a dozen Namis and Sanjis stood in the carnival's small space. As I emerged, I saw my body multiplied and images of me stood all over the place.

And then they attacked. Eight Luffys and two Zoros barreled down on me. I turned and ran as fast as I could back into the tent and pressed myself against the door. When my followers were all inside I pulled the flap closed, shutting us in the dark. Unsure what to do next, I cloned myself to confuse Mirror Maze. My real body slipped out the door to the clearing.

Sanji was fighting a herd of Namis. "Sanji, I love you," one of them whispered as she stepped forward. He hesitated a moment long enough for her to become a bullet of silver light and shoot straight through his stomach and he screamed. Nami herself looked over and ran to help, but was blocked off by Zoro.

"Get out of my way!" she shouted, driving the Clima-Tact as hard as she could against his skull. Zoro's neck cracked over to one side and he fell.

"God!" he screamed. I gasped. That Zoro had been the real one.

Luffy was surrounded by all of us, unable to fight. "Beat Arlong for me, Luffy!" Nami's image was saying, sobbing. "I want to live, take me to sea with you!" I cried, head in my hands. "I'm making fish for dinner again, not much of a choice on the ocean like this," Sanji said, arms crossed and a cigarette in his teeth. "I'll help you be king of the pirates," Zoro said, pulling a sword out.

Luffy looked confused as he stared at the multitudes of his nakama battling themselves and each other all around him. His large eyes were at once serious and innocently unaware as his heavily injured nakama fought for their lives. He put his hand on the hat he wore, looking at the small circle of us moving closer and closer.

"Guys, stop! You're my nakama!" he shouted.

Nami hissed in response, jumping forward and slamming a fist into his already bleeding shoulder.

He hunched over, unable to strike her back.

"Luffy, they're not real!" I shouted from where I stood. The enemies I'd shut in the dark clearly weren't fooled anymore and erupted at me. I cloned myself ten times and bolted towards my captain, who was allowing Sanji to kick him hard in the gut.

"We're your nakama, captain-san," the image of me said. "And that won't ever go away, right?" She stepped towards Luffy, taking one of Zoro's swords from him, and cut both of his cheeks deeply.

"Robin," he said. "You're my…" he choked, coughed up more blood. "You're my best friends. Stop, guys."

"Fight back, you coward!" Zoro's image said. His real self was lying on the ground fifteen feet away, surrounded by Sanjis and Namis who kicked him and shot balls of heat and cool, jolting him with little thunderbolts.

Luffy dodged Zoro's killing blow and raised his fists. He shot a weak blow into Zoro's stomach, barely knocking the big man back.

Sanji and Nami had been overpowered by Luffys and Zoros. Nami was being held down by two swords crossed above her throat, two above her waist, and one above each of her legs. Sanji was wrapped so tightly in constricting bonds of rubber that his breath was coming in laboring gasps. I was mercifully unhindered, blending in with a crowd of my own images, who were looking for more people to fight.

"Luffy, why did you take us here?" Nami's image asked our captain. "This island is hurting me! A captain should protect his crew!"

"I…" Luffy choked. "I tried. You guys wanted—you couldn't sense the storm and Robin never said anything about it being dangerous! It's not my fault!"

"Yes it is!" Zoro said, stepping forward with yet another blow aimed at Luffy's throat. "You let us down. You'll never be king!"

"You don't deserve to be!" Sanji's image said. The false people were so close to Luffy now they couldn't even strike with their weapons but had to use their hands to grab and tear at Luffy's open wounds, pulling his skin apart.

I waited for Luffy to do something, to protect himself, to see that his real nakama were the ones trapped, our weaknesses exploited by one another. Mirror Maze had known it would be unable to defeat us, that we were too strong, and so it pitted us against one another. And it had won.

"You're…" he coughed blood, "you're my nakama."

I could watch no longer. With tremendous energy and a mental blockade against the pain it caused me, I dropped to the ground and swept the legs out from all the other Robins standing around me. I charged at Luffy, tore that image of myself from him, grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his face.

"We are not your nakama!" I cried. "Kill us!"

Luffy's composure broke. He looked up into my real face, and then to those of the false crew members around us, who were pummeling me with their fists, biting, and trying to claw my eyes out. "Captain-san, they're not real," I said weakly as Zoro's hand found purchase in my ear and dragged me off Luffy.

"Robin!" my captain screamed. Barreling into the fake Zoro, he punched him so hard in the face that something actually cracked. As though a mirror were breaking. Zoro's image wavered fuzzily then vanished.

From everywhere and nowhere a sharp sound, high like fingernails scraping glass, echoed over the island. All the false Straw Hats were gone and only we were left. From somewhere far away a leopard's shrill dying scream sounded as Rob Lucci came tumbling back down the hill, Chopper in monster point following closely behind.

Every one of us was bleeding, burned, beaten. We sat in a daze as Mirror Maze vanished. "We…beat it?" Nami said, coughing and holding her ribcage.

A great roaring from the little blue box Mirror Maze had been hiding in sounded. The carnival man stood there, his eyes wide and his smile huge. The skin was dried-blood brown all around his lips and eyes. "You think you co-could beat me-me-me like that?!" The roaring voice from the box bellowed. "I will b-b-break you!"

The carnival man was looking at the sky, his palms raised as though in ecstasy. "Mirror Maze!" he exalted. "I'll keep you alive forever and ever!"

There was a shifting in the air as Mirror Maze moved invisibly towards the side of the carnival booth. The side on which Usopp hung, trapped by Mirror Maze's glass limbs. It appeared in its real form, the sick strawberry-headed demon. Clearly, it had underestimated our ability to survive and recoiled a step as Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji jumped up to defend Usopp. The curtain of glass shards came tumbling down around us again.

"No!" Luffy shouted. Mirror Maze snapped its fingers and from the sky water began to tumble into the cylinder of now solid glass we were trapped in. All of us were too weak to swim. My Devil Fruit and Luffy's would mean death surely, and for Zoro, Nami, and Sanji, too if they tried to help us.

Mirror Maze turned to Usopp. It shifted into Luffy's form. "Come and be part of my crew," it said.

Usopp looked up weakly. "Luffy…?" it said.

"No!" Luffy shouted, pounding on the glass. "No, no, Usopp!" The glass did not even shatter as he struck it with such force the ground beneath us reverberated.

"Yeah!" Mirror Maze said. "I'm gonna be king of the pirates, and I need you to help me!"

"Help…" Usopp said weakly.

The image of Luffy crossed its arms and rocked back a step. "You're not a coward, are you?" he asked.

Usopp looked up into Mirror Maze's eyes. "How did you…what do you mean…?"

Mirror Maze shifted again, elongating Luffy's face, distorting the shape of his body. It skipped in giddy little circles. "I mean you'd never lie to me, right? My nakama are the bravest on the oceans, and we can't have a coward on our crew!"

Usopp looked incapacitated, unable to answer.

Inside the glass, Luffy's strength was fading as the water tumbled past our knees and neared our waists. Sanji and Nami were already wading towards me, ready to help me. Chopper stood on Zoro's shoulder, his limbs wrapped around his friend's head as he shivered. Luffy doggedly pounded the glass, streaking it with blood.

"I'm not a coward!" Usopp said.

"You're lying!" Mirror Maze countered.

I was frantically looking for a way to escape, for a tiny crack in the glass or some weakness of Mirror Maze's that I could exploit the same way he had used ours against us. A spark of hope lit up in my brain. "Luffy, where's Ace?" I asked. "Where's your brother."

Luffy turned to me, shocked. "I…I don't know…" he said. "He was right behind me when we heard you guys screaming…We came to help…!" His face was tortured, his feeling of weakness clear.

"Ace! Fire-Fist Ace!" I shouted as loudly as I could, cupping my hands around my mouth and screaming into the sky.

Catching on, Zoro raised his voice with mine. "ACE!" He bellowed.

"Help us, Ace!" Nami shouted.

Nothing happened.

"My brother's dead again…" Luffy said, grinding his teeth.

Outside the glass, Mirror Maze had descended upon Usopp. It was removing the glass from his skin one tiny piece at a time, the strawberry head licking its lips as it listened to his cries of protest.

"I'm not a coward…my nakama need me!"

"Extra!" Mirror Maze said in Nami's voice.

"Disgrace!" It shouted in Sanji's.

"Liar!" Zoro's voice teased.

"Usopp, listen to me! You're a Straw Hat and we wouldn't be a crew without you!" Luffy shouted. "Don't go! Don't listen!"

Either Mirror Maze had stopped his ears or Usopp thought he was hallucinating. He looked hopelessly over Mirror Maze's shoulder as the strawberry took an enormous bite out of his shoulder. Luffy's pain-stricken face, almost the only part of him free of the water tumbling down on us, had no effect on him. He raised a hand weakly.

"Ace!" Chopper shouted one more time. Seconds later, two casual shadows appeared from deep within the carnival. They walked unhurriedly, one with his hands in his pockets, the other with his arms swinging evenly at his sides as he drew a whip from his belt.

Ace and the Bell-Viper appeared side by side. _It has to be a trick, it has to be Mirror Maze_ I thought.

The baby-bodied strawberry monster turned from the last bolt of glass it pulled from Usopp's arm and smiled widely at the snake. "R-r-ringmaster!" It said, laughing.

The Bell-Viper tipped his hat at Mirror Maze then snapped at the water tumbling down on us. The flow slowed but did not stop. The Bell-Viper turned to look at Ace. "Nicely done," he said.

Ace looked up into Luffy's face. His defined features were cold and dead. "I gave you my brother," he said, turning to the Bell-Viper. "Now let me go."

"What…" Luffy's voice trailed into silence. His eyes were wide, full of tears. The rest of us had frozen in disbelief. "Ace, help!"

Luffy's brother looked on stonily as the Bell-Viper clapped him on the back. "Would you like to watch him die? It's your right, Ace."

Ace was disturbingly calm, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Go on ahead, Bell-Viper. I'll see to it the coward dies. And then I'll bring you my brother."

The Bell-Viper smiled at him, his long hand extended to take Ace's. They shook and Ace smiled at the Viper. Looking at him, it was clear he was neither illusion nor possessed by the circus. He was Ace. Fire-Fist and brother and brave, dead soul. And he had betrayed us.

* * *

_Seven little pirates had a traitor in their mix,_

_Their loss was the salvation, and now there's only six…_

* * *

"Mirror Maze, don't drown them," Ace said when the Bell-Viper had turned away.

Mirror Maze turned and glared at the water, gnashing its teeth. The flow stopped and began to drain, evaporating back up into the sky.

"Ace!" Luffy screamed. "WHY?! What are you doing!?"

Ace came up to the glass, pressing his palm against it. "I was never your brother," he said.

At that moment, Mirror Maze drove a blade-like hand straight into Usopp's stomach. The blood that came pouring out was mixed with a shout. The stuff spattered all over the strawberry. The carnival man shrieked with joy. At that moment, the calliope stopped. Mirror Maze looked up, sighed a little, and vanished back into the box, which the carnival man snapped shut. He vanished with a titter of laughter back into the stand.

The cylinder of glass surrounding us disappeared as well. Instantly, Zoro, Sanji, and a newly transformed Chopper pounced on Ace, holding him down. Nami, Luffy, and I ran to Usopp, who had collapsed against the wall, a blood stain marking his path to the ground.

"Usopp!" I cried, my voice echoing in chaotic, struggling reverberations all around the carnival.

His eyes were rolling all around. "Nami, go help hold that traitor down and send Chopper over here!" I said urgently, taking Usopp's cold and shaking hand in mine. "Usopp, stay here, stay with us!" I said.

Chopper, still in arm point, fell to his knees beside Usopp and tore the man's shirt off to examine the bloody wound in his stomach. It was clear that organs had been punctured. Usopp's lungs and liver were visible through raw, bleeding skin.

Usopp reached a hand up as Chopper went for his bag of supplies. "Chopper…don't…" he said.

Luffy leaned in, taking Usopp's shoulders. "What do you mean, don't? Chopper can save you! Come on, Usopp, get up! Get up!"

Usopp put his hand on our captain's neck, gripping him hard. "There's no stopping this one," he said. "And Chopper knows it…Luffy-" he coughed tremendously, blood spattering Luffy's face and hat. Our captain didn't even blink. "Thanks for the adventure!"

Luffy was crying, gigantic tears streaking his face. "Shut up! We're going to have more. We're going to get off this island and we're going to sail away on the Going Merry, just like always. We'll find Franky and Brook and then we'll all be together again! We'll make it out!"

Usopp's eyes shut. "I'm going to find Franky and Brook right now, captain. I'll go on ahead…follow when you can…"

Luffy's hands were shaking. "No! No, Franky and Brook aren't dead, and you won't be either. Usopp, stay with us! Stay here!"

"I feel…brave…" Usopp whispered, looking up at the cloudy sky past Luffy's shoulder. "Captain, will you send me ahead as a scout?"

Luffy could not speak. "Go on, Usopp," I said for him. "You're the bravest, no one would be a better scout than you."

Usopp's face fell. "You don't think…this isn't my fault is it? That we stayed here?"

Words caught in my throat. "It's mine," I whispered hoarsely. "I asked…the wrong question. I'm sorry!" My heart tore, breaking to shreds along every line of goodness I'd ever done.

Usopp reached up, touched my hair. "It's not…your fault. You couldn't have…known." He smiled a little as the color drained from his face. "I can see the Merry," he said. "She's set full sail into the wind…she says she's going to take us somewhere, some adventure…I'm going to be brave, Luffy, I promise."

"I…" Luffy struggled to speak through the sobs wracking his frame. "I know. You always were!"

"I'll save your favorite seat on the ship for you," Usopp said.

"Good night, Usopp," I said as tenderly as I could. Usopp closed his eyes.

"I think you mean good morning...it's sunny there, and the water's warm…come soon, you guys."

"We will…we promise…" I choked.

"Straw Hats…forever…!" Usopp said clearly, his voice strong, braver than I had ever heard it. His lungs caved in, his hand fell limp in mine.

"No…" Luffy said, collapsing, his head on Usopp's chest. "Wake up! If you're so brave then get the hell up!" he said.

Chopper had returned to normal. He lay his hoof on Usopp's eyes and shut them entirely. "We'll miss you," he choked.

I moved to wrap my arms around Luffy, to comfort him in any way I could. But as I bent down I saw my captain's face was hard, his eyes angry and piercing. After touching Usopp's forehead one last time he stood, determination stuck out on his face. "Robin," he said.

I looked up, terrified that somehow Luffy would blame me for Usopp's death as I was already blaming myself. That it was my fault Franky and Brook had gone unsaved, that all of us were going to die. "Yes, captain-san?" I said meekly.

"How do you get someone to tell the truth, even if they won't?" he asked. His eyes were fixed on Ace, who was struggling in Zoro, Sanji, and Nami's combined grips. One man, no matter what his Devil Fruit was, was not enough to stop three of my crew.

"Captain, san, are you sure?" I asked, standing to join Luffy.

He looked down at Usopp's broken body. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. Then his eyes met mine. "Yes."

"We have to take him to the gypsies," I said. "They can make him tell the truth."

Luffy nodded, walking up to Ace. His brother's face was set, hard, and he stopped struggling as Luffy came near. "Came to help me, did you?" he asked in the same voice as ever.

"You're a monster," Luffy said. "And you're going to pay for what you did to my crew."

Ace tilted his head back and laughed. "You won't be able to do it, you're weak! You love instead of hate!"

Luffy drew a fist back and slammed it into Ace's face. The man's nose shattered and blood leaked in congealed trails down his lips and chin. "Trust me, Ace. I hate."

* * *

_I have no use for a soul that got what it wanted._

_ Wander in purgatory, Usopp._

_Wander forever without your crew._

_You die alone…_

_One brave little pirate thought the Straw Hats were forever_

_In the Circus dying's easy, and 'forever' becomes never. _


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Well guys, I'm back! Life has been totally insane, I won't bore you with details, but basically, I wrote a novel! Yeah, like a real one, that'll be published by this summer. It's got nothing to do with One Piece, or anything like that, but if you're interested PM me and I'll send you the first chapter! I'm also going to post it on here if anyone is interested in reading it! Also, you may want to read the last chapter again since it's been so long.

Cloud Piece: I've started working on your story, buddy, it'll be up after this one!

The colors were starting to blend together. Everything almost seemed to be one large splash of oil ready to burst into flames. _Usopp died…and it's your fault!_ The thought echoed to the melody of the calliope in a space between my ears. A harsh ringing had started, high-pitched and wailing, My eyes kept darting in and out of focus. But I forced my face into a mask of calm, my steps to be straight and even.

"Get him up," Luffy said, turning away from Ace.

"Captain-san," I heard my own voice saying from far away, "the carnival man had seastone figurines behind his counter. You can use them to restrain the traitor."

Luffy looked at me, wounded. "Don't call him that!" he said.

I laughed a little, "it's true, Captain-san!" I said. _Am I going mad? __**No.**__ Who am I talking to?_

Chopper ran behind the counter and fetched a cloth bag full of the figurines I had sensed in the carnival man's presence as we played his game. The bag was almost as big as our doctor. As he neared me with it, I wanted to back away. _**Run. Go away.**_ "Doctor-san, take them to Ace," I said tersely.

Chopper looked at me a little strangely. "Robin, are you alright?" he asked.

Ace gave a tremendous cry and managed to get one arm free of Sanji's hold. Chopper turned and ran at him with the seastone, throwing it on his raised arm. Ace cried out, incapacitated, and fell almost limp in Sanji and Zoro's hold.

"Tie it on," Zoro said, tearing a strip from the cloth bag and securing a swordsman-shaped figurine to Ace's chest. Sanji followed suit, tying a doctor-like shape to Ace's arm.

_**I feel you are beginning to unravel.**_ "My name is Nico Robin," I said under my breath.

"What?" Luffy asked. He turned to me sharply, face still alight with rage.

The voice and ringing in my head cleared immediately. I felt myself part of things around me again, able to move and speak freely. "I'm sorry, captain-san." I said. "We need to take him before it gets dark. We're running out of time."

"Which way back to the gypsies?" Luffy asked, turning to Nami.

She lifted an arm and coughed tremendously, clutching at her chest where her ribs had been broken. Clearly dizzy, Nami stumbled. I ran to catch her, my own legs weak and shaky in the aftershock of the battle. Both of us fell to our knees.

"Nami!" Zoro said urgently, bending to put his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me where it hurts," he said.

Chopper was looking at all of us. He had remained miraculously uninjured in his fight with Rob Lucci, but the rest of us were bleeding messes. "You guys, we can't go anywhere! Look at you, if blood loss doesn't kill half of you, infection will!"

"You're all going to die anyway!" Ace said weakly. The bonds of seastone were heavy, draining more than his Devil Fruit abilities.

Chopper turned to him, kicking him hard in the temple. Ace's face convulsed and he fell unconscious. "Shut up!" Chopper said. He turned back to us. "Guys, please," he said. His eyes filled with huge, child-like tears. "Let me help you. I…I wasn't good enough for Usopp but…I can save the rest of you!"

I thought back to Usopp, to his refusal of Chopper's skills. Our doctor couldn't have saved him. He'd kept our whole crew together, kept all of us from breaking or bleeding out so many times. For the first time in my memory, Chopper had failed us. The Circus had destroyed his faith in himself, his ability to heal.

"Come here, Chopper," Zoro said, smiling weakly.

The little doctor gave in for a second, let himself sigh, his shoulders slump. A single, dry sob escaped him. But when he looked up, his eyes were clear, blameless. "Who's bleeding the worst?" His eyes fell on Sanji and Luffy, both of whom could have been mistaken for cadavers. They were pale, Sanji's eyelid still hanging thinly from a piece of skin. Luffy had done nothing to wipe Usopp's blood from his face or hat. Chopper swallowed hard, determined, and took his bag of supplies from his shoulder. "Lay down," he said, "all of you."

The command was absolute. With no room, and no energy, to protest we found ourselves lying on the ground, almost surrendering to the Circus Avalon. Nami and Zoro lay beside me, her head on his chest for comfort. She shut her eyes instantly, her breathing becoming even. Zoro's other hand rested against my hair, making sure I was alive and not alone.

"Robin," he asked quietly as Chopper set about sewing Sanji's eyelid back into place, "are you awake?"

"Yes, swordsman-san," I said.

"Tell me something happy," he said. The voice was a child's, weak with blood-loss and fatigue.

"Nami loves you," I said.

The girl on his chest made a little noise in her sleep. He pressed his hand against the back of her head, keeping her safe. "I love her, too."

Sanji cried out sharply, a sob mixing with his shriek of pain. With my eyes closed, the sound cut shocking and harsh through the dark. I jumped. Zoro's hand remained in my hair, his thumb running along my forehead.

"I think…I think it's getting inside me. The Circus," I said.

Zoro's hand tightened on my head. "Robin…" he said.

"I have to fight it," I said. "Because if I go mad, then none of you will get out. I couldn't be responsible for deaths, not more of them…"

Zoro sensed the sadness, the angst in my voice, "Usopp's death wasn't your fault, Robin," he said.

"Yes it was…" I hissed. "I asked the question…! I hate myself…"

"Don't!" Zoro's voice was stern, like a father's. "If you hate, that's when it gets you. You told me that, Robin. Don't forget it!"

_**Ring around the Rosey, pocket full of Poesy.**_

_** Ashes,**_

_** Ashes**_

_** We all fall down!**_

"Who's Robin?" I asked weakly.

"Open your eyes," Zoro commanded.

I looked at him. His dark gaze seemed fierce. I saw myself reflected there, reflected two times over in those dark pools.

"Mirror Maze!" Zoro cried. Nami woke instantly as he bolted up, launching himself across the space between us. He knelt over me, pinning my legs beneath him and my arms above my head with his hands. "Mirror Maze, get away!" he shouted.

"You-you get away!" I heard myself say. I opened my mouth wide and screamed against my will. My mouth tasted sweet, and I felt liquid pour out of it down the side of my face. I coughed against the drowning force of it, and a strawberry flew out of my throat and hit Zoro in the cheek.

"Robin!" Luffy shouted. He took my face in his hands, tilting it back to look at him.

"Stra-straw hat! You won't-you won't get her back!"

Suddenly I could see no more. Zoro's face and Luffy's were gone. I could hear them screaming, but it was from far away. I felt my body moved, but my mind remained perfectly still. I turned away from my eyes and nearly jumped.

Inside my head, a perfectly circular room was laid out. The floor was polished to perfection, thin boards of dark wood lying in straight lines as far as I could see. The walls were reflective, shimmering like black water. A single floodlight hung from the ceiling, with a cone-shaped shade on it. It cast weird, yellowish light in a circle on the floor. In the center of the room was a chair, and in the chair was a man.

He was incredibly thin. Too tall for his limbs, which seemed to extend on forever. His hands were casual and long-fingered, with perfectly shaped nails. On the middle finger of his right hand he wore a black ring. He was smiling at me.

The face was indistinct, indescribable unless you were looking straight at it. Long and casual. The eyebrows were sharp and high, almost feminine, and the casually scowling lips were bleeding red in the pale face. His eyes were miraculous. Purple and white striped irises filled the whole space, like a cat's eyes. The pupils were tiny, barely distinct dots of maddening darkness in the center of those mesmerizing colors.

He was dressed in a shabby red suit, his dark hair falling long and messy around his face and neck. The tie was green and lay askew across the left breast of his jacket.

"Good morning," he greeted as I turned. He stood, those achingly long limbs setting chills running down my spine.

"Good morning," I replied. I took a step towards him, closer to the lamp.

He stood with one hand on the chair's back, though he towered over it. The whole scene had the air of emaciation, something unhealthy and pale. Wan.

A gramophone appeared, or rather came into view. The man moved to turn it on. A tinny, almost irksome melody came from it. Minor key and out of tune. He returned to his place behind the chair and stood staring at me.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" I asked.

He rolled them back in his head, blinking his irises away. The blank whites looked out at me. "Nothing," he said. The voice seemed noiseless, an insult, an invasion into the silence.

I stepped closer, circling around towards the back of the chair. The man's gaze didn't follow me. He didn't even move, just stood with his hand on the back of the chair, looking out at where I had been. The gramophone began skipping, little sections of melody cut off by scratches in the record's surface.

I found a door in the wall behind me. Turned the knob only to find the door locked.

"Can't," the man said without turning. I was almost directly behind him, but could still see the white absence of his eyes.

"Who are you?" I breathed.

The gramophone stopped as he reached one long arm out to take the needle from the track. "Good morning," he said again.

"Stop saying that…" I breathed.

"Good morning."

I crumpled against the door as the man turned, his long arms and legs draping about the space around him.

"Are you mad, yet?" he asked. The eyes rolled back into place. "Hearing calliopes?" He took one small step towards me.

"You're…Merry go Round," I said.

The man's head cocked to one side. His eyes widened. "Ooooooooooh." The sound was a long, drawn-out breath of a noise. The sound lungs make when they're pressed too hard. "You don't know what I am!"

"My name is Nico Robin…my name is Nico Robin…" I found myself whispering over and over again, praying hard that it stayed true.

"Robin?" the man said, sounding out each syllable as though he were tasting them on his tongue.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered. My shoulders shook in terror.

The man's eyes rolled back in his head. When they returned, they were dark and huge, empty chasms. "I'm going to fill my eyes with yours!" he said, licking his lips.

The light bulb in the ceiling fizzled in and out of existence. I panted, terrified, in the dark behind my own eyes. I kept my gaze fixed on the man. He was still, unmoving, his hand outstretched to press the gramophone into discord. The calliope wheezed along his finger, hollow notes bleeding into the silence.

The bulb went out.

"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh ," I heard again, the long noise sending tears skittering down my face. "When the dark comes out to play, little birds should fly away…but should the birds forget to fly the dark will teach them how to die!"

I was aware of those swallowing eyes just centimeters from me. Merry-go-Round had moved without moving, with a bend of his tall, unbearable form he had spanned all of space to reach me. The cavities in his head shone oil-slick shiny. "Robin?" he asked, hardly a question.

"Stop…" I winced away.

"Give me your eyes, Robin. Give them to me!" The voice was a child's pouty and wheezing.

I pressed my face into my knees. "No, no, no," I breathed, sobbing.

I felt one of Merry go Round's fingers on my forehead, forcing my head up.

I saw it in silhouette, the face, mouth wide an thin as a blade. It was my own face, and it was screaming.

_Hickory, dickory, dock_

_the mouse ran up the clock_

_the clock struck one_

_ the mouse came down_

_hickory_

_ dickory_

_ dock. _

_You'll betray me, Ace. Just like you betrayed your little brother! Give up the ghost, make my secret go away…_

_Do you know what makes a man hate? I've been wondering the same thing for centuries, turn the question about like a marble. Pop like a grape. _

_They all tasted differently. The Lustre, 500 years old and hated the idea of dying. Didn't fear, hated…delicious. _

_The quick Finner, one of the Old People dark as the day is long and hated his mother, his father, his whole country. We swallowed them quick like opening a bottle. Gobble, gobble…hah, hah hah! _

_Ohara-man. We didn't know what you wanted until the ships blasted that poor island to hell. Keep the calliope strong, you did…_

_Bell-Viper. Why is it you hate ships? Straw hats and the color red? Your soul's a mystery to me, a damned enigma until I __**taste**__ it. _

_Won't be long now._

_We'll take you and then we'll get what we want, Viper. _

_You don't know, do you? You've never known that hating makes your face grow hard, your tongue and teeth sharp. If I didn't get you, the animal trees would…_

_they're as old as I! And hungry…_

_ so hungry…_

_Good morning, Chopper-san. _


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Wow! It's been awhile! Sorry for making you guys wait so long between chapters! I PROMISE I'll be better from now on. You might want to read the last few chapters again for a refresher course in what the heck is going on : )

* * *

"Oh, Jesus! Robin, come back! Robin!"

"I'm right here, captain-san," I said weakly, opening my eyes.

I shut them again instantly. _No, no. Merry Go Round is playing some trick. This can't be real, it can't!_ Breathing deeply, I opened my eyes a slit and caught my breath, resisting the urge to scream.

My own body lay before me. It was limp, eyes frozen open, mouth askew and still leaking sticky-sweet strawberry juice onto my chest. I saw it as though through a screen, surrounded by a ragged slit of red-darkness. I felt my hands shaking and discovered that I was not powerless to move. Struggling to stand I found myself clothed as I had been the night our crew had seen the circus perform. The red dress was cut to perfection, the gloves sliding like supple water along my arms. The space where I stood was dark, cold, and almost slimy. Its ceiling was grey and pulsing and an eerie red-white light seemed to come from everywhere. The whole place smelled like smoke, and it swirled around me so thickly it was impossible to see farther than an arm's length away. But I knew something was waiting there, farther in the dark. Coming to get me.

"Luffy, we've got to get moving. Those strawberries attract the Clockies. We'll take your brother to the gypsies. Zoro, can you carry Robin?"

Sanji's voice was deafening, crashing around me like the apocalypse, shaking me off my feet. I fell into shallow water and, looking down, saw myself changed. More radiant, it seemed, more glorious. "What is this?" I whispered.

Turning back to the ragged slit of light through which I was able to see the world, I watched the landscape move and change. I felt weightless, like I was flying.

"Sanji, is something the matter?" Chopper asked, taking the chef's hand in concern.

Sanji tilted his head sharply and I felt myself tumbling forward, smacking against the back of the chef's eye. He pressed a hand to the damaged eyelid, wiping some blood from it. I felt the sting all over my body. "It's nothing, Chopper, just a headache."

"Do you want some medicine?" Chopper asked.

Sanji shook his head. "It's not a regular headache. It feels more like…there's something inside."

Chopper's eyes widened. "Don't let the circus get you, Sanji. Don't."

Sanji knelt, and I felt the pain sear through his joints. Deep bruises and cuts covered his body, more serious than he had let Chopper know. "This circus isn't taking any more of us. We're going to get out of here."

Chopper looked down. "That's what Robin said, too. And now she's gone."

"I'm here! Doctor-san, no! Don't cry, please! I'm right here, I'll help you. Don't give up on me, doctor-san!" I screamed desperately, feeling the weight of my anonymity, my insignificance. "Merry Go Round!" I shouted, wheeling around into the smoke-filled dark. "You coward, where are you?"

_**We're coming to get you!**_

Sanji froze where he stood. I stopped, listening to the odd, hissing laughter that slid like water through the space the voice had left.

"Don't do this, Merry Go Round! If it's me you want, then stop torturing my nakama!" I ran forward into the darkness, the odd daylight coming through Sanji's torn eyelid faded behind me as membranous vines closed the space around and behind me.

"Don't look so hard, Robin-san. I'm right here."

Turning, I let out a scream as Merry Go Round's face appeared, huge and serious on my left. He held a weird, strawberry-shaped lantern up to his spangled eyes, forcing me to look at him.

I swung madly with my fist, trying to strike him. He was gone before I even had the chance.

"You know I couldn't let you win, Robin. You're the only threat, the only thing stopping the Bell Viper from getting what he wants." Merry Go Round's voice was bland, stale. "You got out before, and you're helping your crew to get out again." I bolted through the thickening tuberous dark around us, determined to catch him. The light winked out and again his face was just in front of mine, this time extending a scratchy tongue to lick my face. "You'll make a lovely strawberry," he said

I flinched away, and he vanished. "Why are you doing this?" I cried.

The lantern was far ahead, but I could see well enough to watch Merry Go Round turn and shrug casually. "Because I have no choice. Some evil is made, but some is _born._ I come from hell!" His steps changed, becoming odd and dance-like. "I thought you of all people would have figured it out by now! We're all from hell, here! A whole island of dead men! A jolly good show, wouldn't you say?"

"You're not a man!"

"Oh, that's right Baby Bunting. I'm a god."

The light winked out again. I collapsed, cradling my face in my arms to protect me from that face, from those eyes.

"There, there little bird," Merry Go Round said behind me, laying a cool, dry hand on my shoulder. "Dying only hurts for a second. Then you're free!"

"Don't touch me!" I said, shrugging him away.

"Oh, don't be so cold Baby Bunting! You've been given a gift, didn't you know?"

I could not resist turning to look up at him. The odd, pale face, the emotionless eyes with their big top irises.

He smiled at me. Just a little smile, enough to make me shudder. "You get to die with your nakama and then live to die all over again!" The voice was giddy, the statement whispered as though to a child, like a birthday present.

I whimpered, dropping my face into my hands. Merry Go Round pressed a hand to my forehead, forcing me to look up at him. "You know, Robin, the dead here don't even die! Your captain's brother, for instance. Ace, that glorious traitor!"

"You ruined him!" I said, trying to be brave. Trying to look Merry Go Round in the eye. "He was a good man and you took him away! You and your damned circus made him a monster!"

Merry Go Round knelt beside me, placing the lantern at his feet. "Is that what you think we are, monsters? And is that what you think he is? Oh no, Ace is only acting how he sees best. We told him he could have his brother back if he only listened, if he did what we said. Maybe you'll understand some other time, Robin. When you get the calliope out of your head."

His ironic smile enraged me and I lunged forward, eager to feel my nails digging into that face, to twist and break it like taffy, to destroy the circus that was so effortlessly destroying me.

Merry Go Round's lantern was already yards in front of me. He turned around and laughed, three odd and hissing sounds that penetrated my brain. "You're all going to die!" the demon whispered. His lantern winked away into the distance and he was gone.

"No, no! We'll get out…" I shouted into the dark, turning and running back towards Sanji's eye. "You're trying to drive me mad, Merry Go Round, but it won't work!" The soft, oozy surface of Sanji's brain sent me tumbling again. I felt my knee split open and my dress tear. "You won't kill Luffy, or any of us!" My leg burned as I put weight on it but I bolted on, back towards the light that I knew somehow would save my nakama. "We'll beat you, we will…we have to…" my breath was raspy, coming in gasps. Sanji's ruined eye, the portal to light and to the world, was drooping and red, all light nearly obscured. I felt that pain, my own eye blurred and half-dark as I stumbled forward. "Sanji!" I shouted. "Sanji, can you hear me!"

Through my nakama's eye I watched the world move blurrily by. Sanji's body was not the only broken one, his injuries not serious compared to Luffy's and Zoro's. Their pace was agonizingly slow, all laboring to take the next step. "Sanji! Listen to me, please! The circus is in your head, it'll get you next!" I pounded against the wall closest to me, stomping on the floor. "Please don't die, Sanji…please…"

I looked dismally on as my own unconscious body dangled from Zoro's shoulder. My weight made him stumble and I winced. _I'm sorry, my friends…I failed you._

* * *

Sanji was out of cigarettes. His tongue and lungs burned for one, for anything to relieve him of the pain, the nagging pain in his head and body. His eye was barely functioning, and he could feel the sting of the glass that had broken it embedded somewhere in his cheek. He resisted the urge to cough, his body protesting any movement. There were voices in his head, and they were growing louder. Some sort of conversation, something he wasn't supposed to hear.

"Robin?" he whispered, hearing his nakama's voice somewhere behind his eyes. In front of him, Robin's body dangled limp and almost lifeless. _Have we given up hope now? You were all that was going to get us out, Robin._ A memory of Zeff flashed across Sanji's mind. _"You're not to be afraid now, you understand?"_ the old man had said.

"Luffy, maybe we should stop. You're bleeding again, you shouldn't even be walking," Chopper said, running to catch up with Luffy.

"We don't have a choice, Chopper. Ace is stronger than we are, when he wakes up he'll be able to get away. We've got to get him to the gypsies, that's what Robin said to do."

Sanji's eyes followed his captain's to Robin's form. Compulsively, Sanji reached out and touched her wrist, checking that life still flowed in her veins. She breathed in deeply and Sanji smiled. _You're beautiful, Robin,_ he thought.

"And what are you going to do with him when we get there?" Nami said angrily. "This whole place is turned upside down and backwards, everything we see will be trying to kill us. The gypsies will-"

"It's not the gypsies we need," Zoro cut in. "It's that truth-water they have. That's why Robin wanted us to go there. Remember when we first got here, I told my story to that gypsy boy, Otter? He used that water to tell if I was speaking the truth."

"But what on earth can Ace tell us that we don't already know!" Nami gestured to the bound and gagged man Luffy had slung over one shoulder. "He betrayed us, and he's a monster like the rest of them on this island! You think he knows the way out? You think he'd tell us even if he did?!"

"Nami!" Zoro said, setting Robin gently on the ground and moving to take Nami by the shoulders. "What's the matter with you?"

Sanji's heart jolted as he saw the tears in Nami's big brown eyes. She clenched her jaw, looking up at Zoro. "What's the matter? What do you fucking think is the matter? I'm losing my mind! We all are, look at us! Five days ago we were happy, happy and whole. And now Franky, Brook, and Usopp are dead. Robin's still breathing but you know something's got her, something that's going to get the rest of us if we don't get out in time. The circus knows everything, it's breaking us!"

"Shut up!" Luffy said, dropping Ace on his side and rounding on Nami. "Stop it, Nami! What's the matter with you? Is Merry Go Round in your mind, too? Cause I don't think we could carry another unconscious person. If you've lost faith, then leave. We're getting out, but if you're so determined to stay then go find the Bell Viper and tell him you'd like to switch sides!"

Nami looked at her captain, appalled. "This is your fault, Luffy, you know that? If you hadn't broken our Log Pose we wouldn't be here in the first place! Do you remember what you said? 'Nami, did you know glass doesn't bounce?' Of course I know glass doesn't bounce you idiot! Everybody knows that!"

Luffy's eyes narrowed. Zoro stepped forward to put his hands on Nami's shoulders. "Stop it, Nami. This isn't anyone's-"

"And why should I stop it? We're all going to die, he might as well hear what I have to say." She wheeled on Zoro and slapped him hard across the face. A deep gash on his cheek reopened and he stumbled back, crying out. "And you! You say you love me, tell me over and over again, but the story you told the gypsies was about Kuina. You never forgot her, and you don't love me."

"Nami-swan," Sanji said gently, watching in horror as her face contorted in anger.

She shook her head. "This isn't the way out of the circus. It hates you, Luffy, not the rest of us. I'll get out on my own, not with you. I can't stay here anymore!" She turned as though to run.

Sanji caught her face between his hands and pulled her close, looking deeply into her eyes. "Is that really Nami in there?" he asked.

_**I'm a little teapot, short and stout,**_

_** here is my handle, here is my spout.**_

Sanji winced, his hands convulsing as the voice rang against his temples. Nami looked deep into his eyes, their slitted and damaged irises seeming more grey than black. "Of course it is. You know I'm right, Sanji."

_**When I get all steamed up, hear me shout,**_

_** tip me over and pour me out.**_

Sanji's eyes flickered with tears. "It's getting me, Nami. It's getting me and I need you here to help me keep it away. Please…please don't go."

Nami cocked her head curiously, the meanness leaving her face. "Why is Robin in your eye, Sanji?"

The chef let go of Nami's shoulders and she backed away, stunned. Her lips were open as though someone had slapped her. "You don't know what you've gotten yourselves into! Any of you! Go to hell!" Shaking her head, she bolted through two tents and vanished.

"Nami, no!" Zoro shouted, making to run after her.

Luffy's hand landed heavily on his first mate's shoulder. "She's not coming back."

Zoro whipped around. "Who are you? You're not the Luffy I knew once! He wouldn't have given up so easily, not when his nakama's dreams are still unfulfilled! Are you going to let her go before she finishes her map?"

Luffy lowered his head, looking down at his brother in the soil beside him. "It's like the Bell Viper said, this place kills dreams. Even if we do get out of here none of us will ever be the same. We won't have Franky, Brook, or Usopp. And now it looks like Nami's gone, too. We don't have a plan, we don't have a way off this island."

"The Merry," Sanji said. "The Merry's still on the pier. Robin wanted Ace to tell us the way off, maybe he can tell us how to get our ship back. The tide goes out in four days, that's enough time isn't it?"

"But…Nami," Zoro's brow furrowed as he looked towards where she had vanished.

Sanji shook his head. "I thought the circus was getting at me, but it looks like it's taken her. I mean, she asked what Robin was doing in my eye, but Robin's right there."

They jumped as an inhuman shriek echoed from just behind Luffy. The captain darted to Zoro's side, ready to defend the unconscious Robin. A little Clockie stood in front of them, its wig and hat familiar as Brook's. The rest of its body was entirely blank. Skin-colored and wearing a rudimentary loincloth, the Clockie was smaller and thinner than any of its bretheren, almost emaciated. It opened its mouth, head cranking gruesomely open, and walked in a little circle as it sang.

"Six little pirates thought they'd make it out alive, but the circus played a clever trick and now there's only five! Five little pirates thought the island must have more, the bravest said she'd find the key and now there's only four! Four little pirates went a' searching for the sea, one died of screams, he'd lost the rest, and now there's only three! Three little pirates said "there's nothing we can do," one went mad and ran away and now there's only two! Two little pirates thought the maze had hid the sun—"

The thing shrieked as Luffy darted towards it and tore the melody pipe from its throat in a single, vicious strike. Its head split down the middle, spurting sickening strawberry juice onto the captain's bandages, staining them red. "You shut up!" he shouted. "Everyone just shut the fuck up! This circus won't kill me and it won't kill any more of my nakama!"

"Are you so sure?" The Bell Viper's voice came from everywhere and nowhere. Close by, a calliope started. Sanji thought he could hear Mirror Maze laughing. "I hate you, Luffy. And when I hate someone they don't get away so easily!"

"Why?!" Luffy screamed. "What do you want from me!?"

"I want you to die! I want you to die and stay dead! I want you to stay here forever and never have another adventure. I want you to suffer, Luffy!"

"What have I done? What have my nakama done? We just want to go home!"

"This is your home now!" The Bell Viper's voice exploded across their hearing and strawberries rained down from the sky, whacking against the men. Zoro pulled Chopper close, Sanji and Luffy bent over Robin.

The Bell Viper appeared at the end of the alleyway. He was taller than Sanji remembered, and looked more like a snake. The scales that had been his skin's undertone had completely taken him over, making him odd and animal-like. His limbs had grown long and moved oddly, as though they had no joints. He held a gigantic pink umbrella against which the strawberries whacked and bounced. Beside him, clutching his hand like a desperate child, was Mirror Maze. Its gigantic lips were smiling at the Straw Hats. Smiling and threatening. "Do you know how that rhyme ends, Luffy?" the Viper asked cruelly.

Luffy stood and ran at the Bell Viper. With a wicked smile, Mirror Maze wrapped his arms around the snake-man's body and they vanished, appearing just behind Luffy. "It goes, 'Straw Hat Luffy tried to fight, and now there's only one!' So who do you think the one is, Luffy? Which of your nakama will get left all alone because of you?"

Luffy's fists clenched, but he did not turn to face the Viper and Mirror Maze.

"Go to the gypsies if you will, Luffy. It won't help you get out. Not as long as I hate you. That makes you a dead man."

By the time the captain whipped around the Bell Viper and Mirror Maze had gone, leaving the gigantic, sticky umbrella in their wake.

* * *

In Sanji's head I lay flat on my back, staring up into the smoky dark with tears leaking down my face. _It's only a matter of time until he dies. Maybe then Merry Go Round will let me out._

"Very good, Robin. You're learning to submit. What I say goes!"

"That's enough, Merry Go Round," I said quietly, throwing my arm over my face. "Even if Sanji dies, Luffy will still get out. Luffy and Zoro and Chopper and I."

"You didn't include pretty Nami in that list."

I shook my head. "I recognize your touch, Merry Go Round. She had you in her face."

"Alas, that's wrong. You're the only one lucky enough to see me so far. It's Mirror Maze, that scum of a demon. He'll treat your friend kindly, don't worry Baby Bunting."

I opened my eyes, lifting my head to try and find the invisible Merry Go Round. "So, two gods can't share the same island?" I asked.

"Don't be coy, Baby Bunting, or I'll send you into the deeper dark!" My head ached and for a second Merry Go Round's face flashed in front of mine. "Don't presume to know anything. Knowing too much will kill you."

"What do you want from me? You haven't spoken to anyone else, why me?"

His fingers brushed the back of my neck, but by the time I whipped around, Merry Go Round was gone in the dark once more. "You should know that by now, Baby Bunting! You escaped me, and that's not allowed. It will be delicious to kill you this time. Kill you once in service to yourself and again in service to me!"

Merry Go Round's voice faded into a casual chuckle as an odd, blue light filled the space where I lay. I opened my eyes to see Sanji's brain winking with little sparks like fireworks. Blindingly white, they danced above and around me, and a child's voice began to sing.

_"Binkusu no sake wo, tomode no yuki you, umikaze, kamikaze, namimakase…"_

I sat up. "Brook?" I called, pushing myself to my hands and knees and crawling towards a blue-bright light that illuminated the space before me.

_"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho…"_

_ "What are you singing that song for, lad?" _

It was a man's voice, deep and big. It grew louder, as loud as the child's as I crawled into an odd clearing and found my hands buried in what I recognized as sand. The grains between my fingers were such a comfort I bent to press my cheek against them.

"_I heard it from some pirates. Maybe if they hear it, they'll come back to get us."_

Already knowing what I would see, I opened my eyes, leaning back on my knees as Sanji's childhood memory played out in front of me. He was a boy, his clothes ragged and torn and his face skinny. His blond hair was pulled away from his eyes with a piece of string and his shoulders were thin. The big man who stood behind him was also thin, though he carried a large bundle of firewood over one shoulder. The sound of the waves crashing against the sandy shore seemed like a metronome, and Sanji faced the sea, rocking in time to the waves' motion.

"_Lad, that imagination of yours will be the death of you one day."_ The big man dumped his load of firewood and sat beside the boy.

Sanji looked at him, indignant. _"What do you mean, imagination? I'm going to be a great pirate one day Zeff!"_

The man laughed. _"You'll be needing to watch your back in that case. There are some dark things in this world." _Sanji opened his mouth to ask a question, but the man cut him off. _"In any case, you'll need to be able to cook to survive. Help me catch dinner, and then maybe I'll tell you a story."_

"_About pirates?"_ Sanji asked excitedly.

"_Yes, about pirates,"_ Zeff replied, half amused and half exhausted.

They stood and walked towards a nearby rocky alcove, Sanji singing and Zeff swinging him above the ground with one big arm. The boy laughed and tumbled into the sand. A wave leaped high out of the sea and covered him in water. Zeff turned to look as far, far on the horizon another ship sailed past. Sanji did not see it, he was so busy shaking the water from his hair. _I think Zeff wanted to stay there…was I his son, in a way? Did teaching me to cook and keeping me alive make me the most important thing in his life? I became a pirate, Zeff. And now I wish I had stayed on that island and died with you, I wish Luffy had never come, I wish I'd found the All Blue like you told me I should. You never did teach me your recipe for poached sea-bass. I've been trying and trying my whole life to make it correctly and it still doesn't taste right. Maybe…maybe eating something with a true friend is a kind of spice itself. Something I never learned to cook with. _

The beach began to fade, the sand to become grey brain matter again. I found myself laying with the last remnants of Sanji's regret around me. He would die with that, I understood. That memory.

"Little Baby Bunting, daddy's gone a hunting. Gone to find a rabbit skin to put the baby bunting in…"

Merry Go Round's voice had become a casual occurrence. Nothing more to me than my own thoughts slowly turning black and dying. "Sanji's not a rabbit skin, Merry Go Round. He's a human being, with memories."

"Memories mean nothing, Baby Bunting. Not when you're going to die." The strawberry shaped lantern appeared in the dark before me, and for just a moment I saw Funhouse's face horribly reflected at me.

* * *

Chopper shook a rumble ball into his palm and ate it. He instantly grew taller than Sanji, muscular arms and shoulders making him more menacing. "I'll carry Ace and Luffy, can we just go, please? I don't want to spend another night here, not with all these Clockies running around."

The crew set off again, following a sloping hill towards the shore where waves were just beginning to dance in and out of earshot. It was silent, but Sanji could tell that Zoro was crying. He turned to the man, and their eyes met.

"Lighten up, Marimo," Sanji said quietly. "Dying only hurts for a moment. Then you're free…" Sanji clamped a hand over his mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Something's…you know…?"

Zoro shook his head. "You're right, Sanji." They were quiet, stumbling along behind their captain and the hope that still weighed him down like dark water as he walked. "Do you remember when you first decided you wanted to be a pirate?" Zoro asked.

Sanji let out a disheartened chuckle. "That sounds like a question you'd ask someone who was going to die." He shook his head. "Yes, I remember. I was stuck on an island with a man, Zeff, who taught me to cook. I used to sing that song Brook knew, Bink's Sake, hoping that pirates would come and rescue us…Instead Zeff died for me. The bastard never even taught me his recipe for poached sea-bass. He must have used some special kind of spice... something I never learned to cook with."

_**All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel,**_

_**monkey said it was all just for fun**_

_**pop goes the weasel!**_

The rhyme was close, just over the hill. The two men jumped, fighting instincts keeping them active despite their crippling injuries. "Why the rhymes, I wonder. I've never even heard most of them," Zoro said.

"A few are from East and North blue, but I don't know most. They're children's games."

Zoro stopped, looking at Sanji. "You mean to tell me a child is behind all this madness? All these gods and monsters are-"

"Funhouse!" Chopper shouted suddenly.

The monster was charging at them, its sucking mouth growing wider and wider as it ran, its eyes becoming human-shaped and gaping. It moved heavily, like a bear, and launched itself into the air as though it would engulf them all. The canvas was empty underneath as the thing grew larger, larger and landed squarely on Sanji, who raised his arms but was unable to stop it from taking him.

"Sanji, no!" Zoro shouted, running forward to knock his friend out of the way. The tent-monster shrieked as Zoro's sword bit into its canvas skin, but it expanded, continuing to grow larger and larger, so gargantuan that it covered both men.

"Oni-chan!" Chopper cried, dropping Ace and Robin and running towards them.

"Stop!" Luffy shouted, grabbing hold of the reindeer's arm as he ran towards his friends.

In his weakness, Luffy was unable to stop the reindeer from plunging head-on into the deep canvas sack that had engulfed their friends.

When they were gone and all was quiet, the canvas reached out one tentacle-like arm towards the two unconscious bodies. It wrapped its sticky, oozy fingers around them and pulled them after their friends. Then it shrank, growing smaller and smaller until only a tiny, foot-tall tent remained where the monster had been. And then it began to sing.

_**Ladybird, ladybird**_

_**fly away home.**_

_**Your house is on fire**_

_**your children all ALONE.**_


End file.
